Argentina’s Senate began what’s likely to be an all-night voting marathon on the details of President Javier Milei ‘s sweeping proposals to slash spending and boost his own powers early Thursday, shortly after giving the plan overall approval in a narrow vote as thousands of protesters clashed with police outside.
Senators voted 37 to 36 late Wednesday to give provisional approval to the two bills after a daylong heated debate while thousands of protesters poured into the streets, burning cars and throwing Molotov cocktails as hundreds of federal security forces pushed back with rounds of tear gas and water cannons.
The vote — decided by a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Victoria Villarruel — delivered a major boost to Milei, whose efforts to overhaul the government and economy have run into tough resistance in Argentina’s opposition-dominated Congress.
“Tonight is a triumph for the Argentine people and the first step toward the recovery of our greatness,” Milei posted on X, calling his bills “the most most ambitious legislative reform of the last 40 years.”
But critical elements of the wide-ranging legislation still have to survive an article-by-article vote in the Senate. After that, the bill heads back to the lower house, where lawmakers must okay any modifications before Milei can officially claim his first legislative victory.
Right-wing and left-wing lawmakers have clashed over various parts of the 238-article state reform bill, including the declaration of a one-year state of emergency and delegation of broad powers to the president in energy, pensions, security and other matters until the end of Milei’s term in 2027.
Other controversial measures include an incentive scheme that would give investors lucrative tax breaks for 30 years.
Milei is a political outsider with just two years’ experience as a lawmaker, and his 3-year-old party, Liberty Advances, holds just 15% of seats in the lower house and 10% of the Senate.
He has been unable to pass a single piece of legislation in his six months of presidency, raising questions about whether he can execute his ambitious project to trim the deficit and spur growth. Instead, he’s used executive powers to slash subsidies, fire thousands of public employees, devalue the currency and deregulate parts of the Argentine economy.
