Argentina: Senate rejects Supreme Court nominees chosen by Milei

Buenos Aires (Argentina), Apr 4 (LaPresse/AP) – The Argentine Senate has rejected the two Supreme Court nominees nominated by President Javier Milei in a decree earlier this year. In February, Milei had bypassed Congress to nominate two controversial Supreme Court nominees, invoking a clause in the Argentine Constitution that he said authorised him to fill vacant seats during Parliament's summer recess. Both of Milei's candidates, federal judge Ariel Lijo and conservative law professor Manuel García-Mansilla, had failed last year to win the votes of a two-thirds majority in the Senate, where the president's coalition holds only seven of 72 seats. In the new vote held yesterday, after a heated debate, Lijo received only 27 votes in favour against 43 against, while García-Mansilla received 51 votes against and only 21 in favour.