Argentina’s senate dealt a blow to President Javier Milei’s libertarian agenda Thursday, overriding his veto on raising disability benefits, in the first such congressional reversal of his presidency.
Lawmakers in the upper house voted 63-7 to strike down Milei’s veto of a bill that boosts financial aid for people with disabilities — far above the two-thirds majority needed.
The legislative defeat adds to Milei’s mounting troubles, which include a corruption scandal in the nation’s disability agency that has entangled his influential sister and a weakening peso that has prompted the central bank to raise interest rates to commerce-suffocating levels.
Senators last month passed two bills boosting state spending on health care and public universities, jeopardizing Milei’s campaign to balance the country’s budget.
Some polls show Milei’s approval rating dropping below 40% for the first time since he came to office in December 2023, sparking speculation about how long he can last steering long-turbulent Argentina out of a major crisis.
In the Senate, where the disability law was upheld on Thursday, La Libertad Avanza controls seven out of 72 senate seats. Milei has relied heavily on presidential vetoes to maintain his much-vaunted fiscal surplus, often negotiating with center-right allies to secure backing to strike down spending bills.
That didn’t work this time, especially in light of the scandal alleging that Milei’s sister and chief of staff, Karina Milei, took bribes in awarding medical contracts for people with disabilities.
Posted by John3262005
1 Comment
On the bright side, I THINK that this won’t fuck up the fiscal surplus. If the pension benefit veto was overturned then yes Argentina would be fucked in terms of they’d go back into a fiscal deficit. But I think for now, the fiscal deficit is fine. I just hope this doesn’t hurt Milei’s chances this Sunday and in October for the midterms. It’s either Milei or the Kirchnerists & diet Kirchnerists and I know who I prefer.