The National Senate rejected President Javier Milei's vetoes of the University Funding and "Pediatric Emergency" laws. Both initiatives were promoted by Kirchnerism and its allies with the aim of increasing public spending and undermining fiscal balance.
The session, which lasted several hours, ended with the opposition's victory in a vote that nullifies the presidential vetoes. Previously, the Chamber of Deputies had already given preliminary approval to the rejection, with the support of opposition blocs that act in a coordinated manner against the austerity and fiscal consolidation program led by the president.
In the case of the "pediatric emergency," the opposition secured 181 affirmative votes in the Chamber of Deputies, against 60 negative votes and one abstention. The scenario was very similar in university funding: 174 affirmative votes, 67 negative votes, and 2 abstentions. With the ratification in the Senate, the laws were enacted, despite the Executive's warnings about their deficit and destabilizing nature.
In the case of the upper house, the "pediatric emergency" was insisted upon with 59 affirmative votes, 7 negative votes, and 3 abstentions out of a total of 72 senators. Meanwhile, the insistence on the deficit-ridden "University Funding Law" was approved with almost identical results: 58 affirmative votes, 7 negative votes, and 4 abstentions.
