Argentine president Milei’s administration suffered a major legislative blow after the Senate rejected a dozen presidential decrees at once and passed spending increases for public universities, highlighting the difficulties that Milei’s austerity government will face.
Since assuming office in December 2023 and vowing to drastically reduce state expenditures and rein in rampant inflation, Milei has maintained tight control over the budget and fought any initiatives to increase public spending.
However, the latest defeat underscores the constraints of executive authority in a Congress where the libertine president wields no majority.
Universities secure expanded funding
Lawmakers approved a financial package for national colleges, which included increased compensation for their personnel.
Many senators characterised the effort as a defence of Argentina’s long-standing tradition of free public higher education, which is widely considered a cornerstone of national identity.
In addition to university funding, the chamber explored expanding health-care resources by declaring a two-year pediatric emergency.
The measures contradict Milei’s fiscal adjustment plan, which prioritises severe cuts in the public sector to balance government accounts.
The administration claims that increased expenditure jeopardises attempts to stabilise the economy, but opposition legislators have coalesced around education and healthcare as sacrosanct priorities, resulting in a political crisis.
Senate rejects presidential decrees
Senators also overturned five presidential decrees regarding the reduction of the state bureaucracy, in tandem with the budget votes.
They were among the first steps in Milei´s economic program, aimed at shrinking Argentina´s bloated public sector and refocusing resources toward fiscal equilibrium.
That rejection marks one of the most explicit institutional rebukes to Milei’s strategy of governing by decree. Since taking office in January, the president has repeatedly turned to executive power, hoping to skirt a divided and opposition-dominated parliament.
The result suggests that the Senate, where Milei’s bloc is still the minority, will seek to limit the extent of unilateral executive action.
The ruling also poses the question of how much of the president’s wider austerity agenda can be proceeded with legislatively without compromise.
Previous setback in the lower house
The upper house vote came after a similar setback in the lower house earlier this week. On Wednesday, opposition parliamentarians successfully overturned Milei’s veto of a bill that doubled support for disabled people.
That decision was a rare example of Congress rallying against the president, demonstrating that opposing forces can muster the numbers to overturn executive decisions when politically sensitive matters are at stake.
The consecutive defeats demonstrate Milei’s limited room for manoeuvre and the political repercussions of his hostile posture toward Congress.
By portraying parliamentarians as obstructive and allied with the opposition Peronist interests, the president risks strengthening opposition to his plans.
Milei’s confrontation with Congress
The president has consistently indicated that he will veto any legislation that expands budget allocations, taking a hard line on fiscal discipline.
However, repeated overrides of his vetoes make that threat less potent and lessen his bargaining power in talks with legislators.
Although Milei has had the backing of business leaders and sections of the electorate who support his pledge to radically change the economy, his aggressive style with Congress makes governing difficult.
But the most recent votes indicate that opposition forces are growing bolder in challenging the extent of executive power.
New demands for social spending added to the pressure to raise the military budget, but with inflation still chipping away at household purchasing power, the political clash over the allocation of government funds stood to heighten.
Particularly, universities and health programs, which the public is largely in favour of, are becoming key sites of opposition to austerity.
What’s next?
The denial of presidential decrees and the authorisation of new budget measures represent a dramatic political blow for Milei, who must now overcome dozens of legislative obstacles to his reform programme.
The president no longer controls either chamber and must choose between pathways to compromise and more losses that could gum up his wider economic plan.
Argentina is dealing with the fiscal strain, rampant inflation, and social pressures that Boomer and other new breed rightwing officials bring to power, and the clash between the executive and Congress is only set to intensify.
The latest blowbacks are a flavour of what a pack of austerity, hence reliant on fiscal prudence but facing political headwinds in a congress dominated by the opposition, is for Milei.
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