The government’s decision Javier Milei to withdraw the statement from María Verónica Michelli to join the Federal Oral Court No. 3 of La Plata opened one of the most significant political tensions within the ruling party in judicial matters. The judge, with more than three decades of experience in the Judiciary and current secretary of the Federal Oral Court No. 1 of La Plata, had gone through the selection procedure and already had a favorable opinion from the Senate Agreements Commissionwhere it gathered the support of nine legislators and was ready to be discussed by the plenary session of the upper house.
The controversy broke out when the Executive Branch formally requested to rescind his candidacy. As it turned out, the decision was linked to the Michelli’s relationship with journalist Hugo Alconada Mon of the journalistic outlet La Nación, recognized for his investigations into alleged acts of corruption involving national officials, including publications on the case $LIBRA and on the financial situation of members of the Government. Michelli is the journalist’s sister-in-law, a family link that, according to the published versions, was considered a sufficient political factor for the Casa Rosada to promote the withdrawal of the document.
The measure generated questions from judicial sectors, the opposition and even pro-government leaders, who interpreted the decision as a worrying sign regarding institutional independence and the Government’s relationship with critical journalism. Far from supporting the presidential decision, Patricia Bullrich He became the main official figure in disagreement with the measure. The senator and head of the La Libertad Avanza bloc in the upper house publicly reported that she had spoken with Milei to inform her that she will exercise a “conscientious objection” regarding the withdrawal of the document.
“I spoke with the President and informed him that I am going to exercise my right to conscientious objection regarding the withdrawal of Dr. Michelli’s nomination to be a federal judge,” the legislator wrote. In the same message he added that he respected the president’s constitutional power to propose and withdraw candidates, but maintained that expressing his principles was also part of his political responsibility. The difference was of such magnitude that the former Minister of Security even made available her resignation from leading the ruling bloc, although the president decided not to accept it. His position was accompanied by legislators from the PRO, the UCR and other parliamentary allies who expressed their intention to support Michelli’s candidacy.
In parallel, the vice president Victoria Villarruel He distanced himself from the position promoted by the Casa Rosada and personally received Michelli in the Senate in the midst of the controversy. During the meeting, the vice president conveyed that she would guarantee respect for the independence of powers and the institutional procedure that the document had to follow within the Upper House.
The gesture was read as a strong political signal because it occurred while the ruling party was trying to stop the advance of the candidacy and because it once again exposed the differences in criteria and the rivalry between Villarruel and the Head of State. The meeting strengthened those who maintained that the Senate should resolve the issue according to its own regulatory mechanisms and not limit itself to automatically validating the Executive’s decision.
“The vice president respects the institutions. Michelli’s document has nine signatures and she is not going to go against the Senate majorities,” explained sources close to Villarruel. The definition constituted a relevant political signal. It did not necessarily imply that the vice president actively intervened to guarantee the approval of the judge, but she made it clear that she was not willing to accompany initiatives aimed at altering the parliamentary procedure once the file had already advanced in the Agreements Commission and obtained sufficient support to reach the chamber.
The episode ended up becoming much more than a discussion about a judicial appointment. For broad political and legal sectors, the case revealed the internal tensions that cross the ruling party, the growing prominence of Bullrich within the libertarian parliamentary structure and the increasingly autonomous and distant role of LLA that Villarruel seeks to play for his political future. It also reopened the debate on the limits between the political decisions of the Executive Branch and the institutional processes for selecting judges, in a controversy that placed the Government on the defensive and generated questions even among its own allies.
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