The Government appointed Ariel Lijo and Manuel García Mansilla to the Supreme Court: what does Javier Milei's decree say?

The Government made official on Wednesday the appointments of Ariel Lijo and Manuel García-Mansilla as judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, thus expanding its number of members to five. It did so on commission and through Decree 137/2025 , published in the Official Gazette with the signature of the President.

There, the will of Javier Milei was crystallized, who signed the document on Tuesday and announced the news that both, after several comings and goings in the Senate, will take office for one year, which is the maximum time that an appointment can be indicated in commission.

"The President has decided to appoint, on commission, Drs. Manuel García-Mansilla and Ariel Lijo as judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, until the end of the next legislative period, with the aim of normalizing the functioning of the highest judicial court of our country, which cannot carry out its role normally with only three justices," said a statement from the Office of the President.

In parallel, the same post on X added that "during the aforementioned period, this administration will continue with the legislative process so that the Upper House exercises its powers and provides the corresponding agreements to the petitions." That is, it urged that the treatment continue in the Senate during ordinary sessions.

On Tuesday, after the President's announcement, the opposition questioned the appointments by decree and described as "terrible" and "harmful" the strategy of the Casa Rosada to appoint Javier Milei's candidates by this means, after the efforts in the Senate to reach the two-thirds required by the Constitution failed.

The ruling party, meanwhile, hopes to obtain these majorities to appoint them permanently to the highest court, which is currently made up of Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti . If they do not get it, they will keep the option of repeating the same procedure as now, but within 12 months.

"Both President Javier Milei and all of us who are part of the Government are going to take all necessary measures to reestablish the normal functioning of the institutions of the Republic," said the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona , in a publication on X.

He also stressed that “after the appointment of Lijo and García-Mansilla, the Supreme Court of Justice will function with 5 judges as established by law” and emphasized that “the National Constitution in Article 99 is clear: the President has the power to appoint judges on commission to guarantee the functioning of the highest court.”

"This will allow the normal functioning of the country, which had been brought to a standstill due to the irresponsibility and speculation of politicians," he said.

The name of Lijo , which generated so much resistance even among the blocks allied to the Casa Rosada (although it was the only one whose opinion reached the necessary signatures to be treated in the chamber), was proposed to the Government by Ricardo Lorenzetti , as Cúneo Libarona admitted) to balance power in the Supreme Court.

Lijo had been approached by other presidential candidates and the Executive considered the possibility of announcing it in January 2024. It was finally made official in March together with García-Mansilla, who heard the offer from Santiago Caputo, as he himself said during his presentation in Congress.

Decree 137/2025 published in the Official Gazette with the appointments of Lijo and García-Mansilla bears the signatures of Milei and Mariano Cúneo Libarona.

The first article appoints "on commission, in accordance with article 99, paragraph 19 of the NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, Dr. Manuel José García-Mansilla, to the position of judge of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation." The second article, meanwhile, does the same with Ariel Lijo.

The following sections establish that "those appointed by this act, at the time of taking the oath in accordance with the provisions of article 112 of the National Constitution, must comply with the formalities for exercising the office" and that "this decree will enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette.