The Argentine Senate rejected on Thursday, 3, the nominations of two candidates for the Supreme Court nominated by President Javier Milei by decree. According to the Argentine press, this is the first time since 1983 that the Senate votes against candidates proposed by the executive.
The government needed the two -thirds support of the Senate, where it has only seven of the 72 chairs, but the nominations were rejected by a large majority. According to The nationAriel Lijo’s appointment was rejected by 43 votes against and 27 in favor, with abstention. Already Manuel García-Mansilla, in turn, was vetoed by 51 senators and supported by only 20.
The two were nominated by Milei in February, when the Ultraliberal President circumvented the congress by invoking a clause of the Argentine Constitution that, according to him, authorized him to fill the vacancies during the summer recess of the legislature.
With the measure formalized by decree, the permanence in office would be until the end of the legislative mandate, whose regular sessions end on November 30. Politicians harshly criticized the decision as an abuse of executive branch, saying that a president has extremely limited authority to make judicial appointments during a congressional recess.
García-Mansilla was even sworn in. But the same did not occur with Lijo, a criminal and correctional federal judge who intervened in several cases of corruption involving former employees of the entire political spectrum. Most of the Court considered that, as he had not resigned as a first instance judge, he could not assume the position of court judge, even if his appointment was temporary.
The defeat could complicate the implementation of the Argentine state’s radical reform proposed by Milei, as analysts say the president expected to fill the vacancies in the Supreme Court with nominees who would decide favorably about the challenges to their economic reforms.
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Among the various processes in the Supreme Argentine, the most notable is the appeal brought on Monday by former President Cristina Kirchner (2007-2015) who calls for the revision of the corruption sentence against her.
In response to the setback, Milei defended his candidates and accused the legislators of unjustly politicizing their nominations. In a statement on Thursday night, Milei’s office said it “repudiates” the vote.
“The Senate rejected the nominations proposed by the president for purely political reasons and not for reasons of adequacy,” he said, arguing that leaving the two chairs empty in court was an effort to obstruct justice.
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The note states that Milei would try to “restore people’s confidence in institutions using all the tools that the constitution and popular vote have put in their hands.”
