Javier Milei criticized the senators after the increase to $10.2 million.

Amid a parliamentary week marked by the rejection of several key Executive decrees, the Senate of the Nation sparked a new scandal by approving an increase that will raise national legislators' salaries to more than $10.2 million gross per month starting in November. The decision caused an immediate outcry from President Javier Milei, who once again lashed out against what he calls "the political caste" for acting behind the people's backs.

Through his official X account, Milei expressed harshly:  "On the very day that the honorable senators vote for laws to destroy the economic program that will impoverish Argentinians, they once again raise their own salaries, as they've done throughout the year, spitting in the face of Argentinians who've made so much effort to move forward. A disgrace that we hope will end in October."

The message was published shortly after the new wage agreement was announced for Congress workers, whose impact directly affects legislators' income. According to the current scheme, approved in April 2024 without public debate, the salary consists of 2,500 basic modules, 1,000 for representation expenses, and 500 additional for displacement, the latter collected by all senators except four. Since then, legislators' salaries have been tied to the collective bargaining agreements of Congress employees.

In addition, there is an annual additional salary to compensate for the bonus, which brings the total to thirteen payments per year. Although in 2023 a salary freeze had been ordered until March 2024, since April the automatic adjustment resumed.

In June, Vice President Victoria Villarruel, in her role as president of the Senate, authorized by resolution that each legislator could decide whether or not to keep the increase. Some senators from La Libertad Avanza, PRO, UCR, and provincial blocs gave up part of their salaries, while most of Kirchnerism chose to keep them, except for exceptions such as Fernando Rejal and Alicia Kirchner, who receives her pension instead of the salary.

The new increase arises from a collective bargaining agreement that establishes a cumulative increase of 7.52% for June-November, with increases of 1.3% in June, July, and August, plus a $25,000 bonus in each of those months, and increases of 1.2% in September, October, and November, along with a monthly bonus of $20,000. This way, the value of the module will rise to $2,554, which, when multiplied by the 4,000 that make up the salary, raises the earnings above $10.2 million gross.

The agreement was promoted by the head of the Legislative Staff Association (APL), Norberto Di Próspero, recently re-elected as head of the union and with close ties to both Villarruel and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem.