Judge Manuel García-Mansilla resigned in the Argentine Supreme Court on Monday (7), after the. The decision occurs amid an institutional impasse between the executive and the legislature. Mansilla had been nominated by the president by decree, which generated criticism in Congress.
Last Thursday (3), the Senate failed its nomination for 51 votes against and only 20 in favor. The house also rejected the nomination of Judge Ariel Lijo, with 43 votes against and 27 favorable. Both had been at the end of February, through Decree 137/25, without prior approval of the Senate – a mandatory stage in the process of appointing members of the Court.
In a letter sent to the president, Mansilla said he decided to leave the post to avoid more politicians and allow vacancies in the Supreme Court to be filled “once and for all, in due course.” According to him, the institutional situation requires responsibility and commitment to the legal process.
“I accepted the appointment with the conviction that the absence of judges in the Supreme Court represented a serious institutional problem […] Now I do what is within my reach to facilitate the Senate’s process, ”wrote Mansilla.
Decree appointments
Milei indicated Mansilla and Lijo in May 2024, but the analysis of the nominations stuck for lack of political consensus. Given the delay, the president decided to name them directly by decree, alleging “deliberate omission” of the Senate.
The government’s justification was the urgency to recompose the number of Supreme Court ministers, who had been working with only three members. However, the decision to circumvent the legislative process increased the tension between the executive and the congress, being seen by senators as an affront to the Constitution.
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With the resignation of Mansilla and the parliamentary veto to Lijo, Milei returns to Estaca Zero in an attempt to recompose the Supreme Court – a central challenge for his schedule of reforms and institutional consolidation.
