Argentine Senate passes pension spending increase in a blow to President Milei's radical austerity

abcnews.go.com:

Argentina’s Senate has defied the government to approve an increase to pension spending that would cost at least an estimated 0.4% of the gross domestic product, dealing a blow to President Javier Milei’s harsh austerity program

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina's Senate on Thursday defied the government to approve an increase to pension spending that would cost at least an estimated 0.4% of the gross domestic product, dealing a blow to President Javier Milei's harsh austerity program.

The bruising defeat for right-wing president again cast a spotlight on his weakness in Congress, where leftist and centrist lawmakers hold sway.

The bill, which already swept through the lower house in June, passed the Senate in a 61-8 vote. All but one of the lawmakers who voted against the bill were from Milei's party, a sign that the president's allies had failed to compromise with other right-wing parties.

Milei has vowed to strike down legislation that undermines his “zero deficit” plan.

“Anything that goes against public accounts will be vetoed,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said Thursday.

But lawmakers could easily override his veto by passing the law with a two-thirds majority again.

Because Milei's libertarian party controls less than 15% of congressional seat — and just seven of the Senate's 72 seats — the populist outsider has largely relied on sweeping executive decrees to cut down the state, slash public spending and deregulate Argentina’s economy.

After six months in office, he finally clinched his first legislative victory in June, when his wide-ranging economic reform bill squeaked through the Senate after hours of torturous negotiations with lawmakers as protesters hurled Molotov cocktails outside.

But the