Martina Jaureguy President Javier Milei vetoed a trio of pension and disability measures in a decree published in the Official Gazette on Monday.
In July, Congress approved the pension increase, the funding boost to support people with disabilities, and a measure allowing older adults to retire by buying back missing social security contributions.
The opposition is now expected to seek to overturn the vetoes in a congressional debate that could happen as soon as Wednesday.
A statement published by the presidential communications team on Monday morning said that lawmakers approved the bills “irresponsibly” because they did not explain how it would be funded, and it endangered Argentina’s fiscal balance.
This, the statement continued, would hamper the government’s goal of eliminating inflation, at a cost to the public purse of over 7 trillion pesos this year and nearly 17 trillion in 2026 (US$5 billion and US$12 billion). It also accused the lawmakers of using “noble causes” for electoral purposes. Argentina is holding legislative elections on October 26.
Congress passed the three bills on July 10. Milei argues the session was “illegitimate” because it did not comply with congressional rules — an argument repeated in the veto decree. The accusation deepened the tensions between Milei and Vice President Victoria Villarruel.
Milei had already overturned two similar bills on pensions and retirement in 2024, in his first veto. At the time, he said the initiatives went against his zero-deficit goal and did not say how the initiatives would be funded.
This time around, the pension bills stipulated several sources of funding that did not involve increasing public expenditure, such as eliminating fiscal benefits including VAT exemptions for company directors and the exemption of income tax for certain companies, as well as using extra budget the government had allocated to the SIDE intelligence secretariat for these purposes.
Congress session
Congress could now overturn the vetoes if both the Lower House and the Senate vote accordingly. Last week, the opposition called for a session on Wednesday to discuss several bills. The vetoes could be debated during that session, but are not formally on the agenda.
If deputies reach the necessary agreements to hold a session, the Lower House is expected to debate bills on public university funding — Milei vetoed an increase for this sector in 2024 — a pediatric healthcare emergency declaration, and funding for the provinces.
The session was called by Peronism, in an unusual show of unity with other opposition sectors lead by Miguel Pichetto, Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) member Facundo Manes (who has splintered from his party’s main deputies bloc, which is allied with Milei’s La Libertad Avanza) and the Coalición Cívica.
The result of the session depends partially on the position of governors who are on good terms with Milei, or are in electoral negotiations with him, such as Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos) and Nacho Torres (Chubut), from PRO. Another factor is the recent creation of a new interbloc in the Lower House made up of six deputies who left the UCR and have now formally allied with LLA.
At least two thirds of each chambers’ lawmakers need to reject the vetoes in order for them to be overturned. The government needs at least 87 votes in the Lower House to uphold them. With the addition of the new allies, political scientist Pablo Salinas said on X, the government currently has 84 in its favor, “very close to the required number of votes to uphold the vetoes.”
