This article was updated on Wednesday, October 9, 3:17 p.m. 

The Milei administration clinched another major win in Congress on Wednesday afternoon as the Lower House upheld his presidential veto of a recent bill granting increased university funding. The motion passed with 160 deputies voting in favor and 84 against, with 5 abstentions.

Hundreds of protesters congregated outside the gates as the vote came through, chanting “Let’s see who’s holding the baton, students or the son of a gun Milei.” 

The government’s victory basically boiled down to support from PRO deputies, as the majority of them voted to support the president’s decision. The outcome had been in doubt until Tuesday when the party confirmed they would back the veto despite criticisms of the government’s handling of the university situation.

The upholding of the veto means that the opposition cannot bring the bill back to a vote until next year. This is the second time the president has used his veto power to annul a decision made by Congress. He already secured a win in early September when the Lower House voted to uphold a presidential veto overturning a pension increase that both chambers had approved.

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Government confident it can uphold Milei’s veto as Congress gets ready to vote

The Lower House is all set to debate President Javier Milei’s veto on a university funding increase recently approved by Congress. An early count indicates that the numbers are tight but seem to favor the government.

If all 257 deputies attend Wednesday’s session, the Milei administration needs 86 votes to uphold the veto. Five have already confirmed they will be absent, lowering this count to 85. In order to overturn, the opposition needs 168 votes.

“The numbers are even,” a source from ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza (LLA) told the Herald. However, they are confident the veto will remain in place, the source added.

The university funding bill was approved 143 to 77 in the Lower House on August 15. Almost all negative votes came from LLA and right-wing bloc PRO, the ruling coalition’s main ally in Congress. This “partnership” will remain in place on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the PRO party confirmed it will back the presidential veto despite criticizing the government’s poor management of the public universities’ budget and staff salaries.

Three deputies from center party Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) are confirmed to also back the veto, despite their bloc being the one that promoted the bill and called the session to uphold it. 

The session is set to have “an open ending,” a UCR source told the Herald.

The veto will stand if the Lower House upholds it and Congress will not be able to discuss it again in 2024. If deputies reject it, however, the vote will move on to the Senate. If lawmakers there also repel it, the bill will prevail and the president would not be allowed to veto it again.

This is the second time the president has used his veto power to annul a decision made by Congress. He already secured a win in early September when the Lower House voted to uphold a presidential veto overturning a pension increase that had been approved by both chambers.

The veto’s repercussions

On Monday, the Human Capital Ministry announced it would grant university professors and staff a 6.8% salary raise via decree. Unions rejected the proposal, saying it falls far below inflation. 

The decision was announced after the parties failed to reach a pay agreement on Monday, five days after the university march and the presidential veto.

The ministry also announced that the Becas Progresar — an economic aid for low-income university students — will remain in place despite having dissolved its fiduciary fund and another salary benefit for professors.

Meanwhile, students have occupied university buildings in at least a dozen public universities throughout the country to protest the veto with symbolic hugs and public classes held on the streets.