President Javier Milei fired Labor Secretary Omar Yasín in the wake of the scandal over senior government officials’ pay. Yasín’s departure was announced live on air, as Milei gave a TV interview.

“I’ve fired the labor secretary, let’s say,” Milei told TV channel LN+. “At this moment they’re notifying him.” 

Over the weekend, Milei was forced to rescind a 48% pay rise for himself and his cabinet after opposition deputies called the raises hypocritical. Just two days previously, members of his La Libertad Avanza coalition announced that they would present a bill to overturn increases of around 30% to lawmakers’ salaries. 

Milei claimed raises for him and his top government officials were triggered automatically because of a decree signed by former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. However, the president himself signed a decree that enabled the raise in February.

Critics have accused the president of using Yasín as a scapegoat, since the president’s signature is controlled by members of his team.

Milei said Yasín was being fired because of the government pay rises. “This is an error that should not have been made,” he said. “Because moreover, this was cleared up in January, the consensus of the ministers was that we have to manage with our salaries frozen.”

He also said money paid as a result of the raise would be discounted from the next month’s paycheck.