Senators from across Argentina’s political spectrum voted on Thursday to reject the appointments of two Supreme Court judges via a decree issued by President Javier Milei earlier this year.

Ariel Lijo and Manuel García-Mansilla were poised to cover the two vacant roles in the Supreme Court. The move sparked an immediate backlash: both candidates are considered contentious, and opposition members said the president violated the Constitution, which requires two-thirds of the Senate to appoint Supreme Court justices. The Milei administration argued that the Constitution grants it the power to cover vacant jobs that require the Senate’s approval during its recess.

García-Mansilla’s nomination was ruled out with 51 negative votes from Peronism, Radical Civic Union (UCR) and Propuesta Republicana (PRO), to 20 affirmative votes mainly from the ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA). Lijo’s nomination was rejected with 43 negative votes and 27 affirmative ones, as some Peronists favored his candidacy.

During Thursday’s session, UCR senator Martín Lousteau questioned Milei’s interpretation of the Constitution. “Can someone really say there are two ways in the Constitution to appoint justices? One involves getting two-thirds [of the Senate] and the other waiting for the recess and appoint whoever you want?” he asked ironically.

Last year, Milei nominated García-Mansilla and Lijo as candidates to join Argentina’s highest judicial court. However, after the senators did not debate their candidacies for a year, Milei rushed things and appointed them by decree.

Opposition members did not only criticize the way the justices were named. Critics of Lijo, who has been a federal judge for 20 years, pointed to his sluggish conviction rate. García-Mansilla was lambasted over his conservative views — he gained visibility when, during the 2019 congressional debate for the legalization of abortion, he opposed it during the commission debates.

Earlier on Thursday, the Senate had reached an agreement to hold a session and reach a quorum in the chamber to debate the appointments.

“The President committed a disgraceful act. He’s ignorant,” said Unión Por La Patria senator José Mayans during the session. “We reject the President’s actions. It is an act of treason.”

An impeachment in the works?

Prior to the vote, the Government said that it was left to Mansilla himself to choose whether or not to remove himself from the Supreme Court — even if his appointment was rejected by the Senate.

“If the Senate rejects García-Mansilla’s application, it will be the judge’s decision whether he remains on the Court or not,” said presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni.

Last month, García-Mansilla defended his appointment by decree and argued he could only be removed from his role via impeachment. Gustavo Arballo, a lawyer specialized in public law, said that “Argentina is a constitutional Disneyland — things that we never imagined, that were ‘laboratory cases’ end up happening.” 

“We never thought there would be a case where someone with a rejected appointment would pretend to continue in office,” he told the Herald. An impeachment would have to be approved by two-thirds of both Congress houses, and the government has a winning hand, he added.

After the Senate’s vote, the President’s Office released a communiqué repudiating the decision, saying it was the first time in history that the upper house rejected Supreme Court sources nominated by a president, and that lawmakers had “political reasons.” 

“The Upper House is the political caste’s haven in Congress. Turned into an impeding machine, the Senate does not act in favor of the people, but has the sole purpose of obstructing the future of the Argentine Nation,” the statement said. “The politicization of justice represents a threat to democracy.”

Martina Jaureguy contributed reporting