Argentine Senate

Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation

Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina
Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ; Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina
2023–2025 period
Type
Type	Upper house of the National Congress of Argentina
Term limits	None
Leadership
President of the Senate	Victoria Villarruel, LLA ; since 10 December 2023
Provisional President	Bartolomé Abdala, LLA ; since 13 December 2023
First Minority Leader	José Mayans, UP ; since 10 December 2019
Second Minority Leader	Eduardo Vischi, UCR–JxC ; since 10 December 2023
Structure
Seats	72 (List)
Political groups	Government (13) LLA (7); PRO (6); Independents (26) UCR (13); Federal Change (4); Federal Unity (3); SER (2); Federal Innovation (2); JSRN (1); For Social Justice (1); Opposition (33) UP (33);
Length of term	6 years
Elections
Voting system	Limited voting[citation needed]; Party-list proportional representation
Last election	22 October 2023; (24 seats)
Next election	19 October 2025
Meeting place
	Chamber of Senators, Congress Palace,; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Website
	senado.gob.ar

The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation (Spanish: Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina.

Overview

The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 1853 Constitution.^[1] There are 72 members: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The number of senators per province was raised from two to three following the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution as well as the addition of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires' senators. Those changes took effect following the May 14, 1995, general elections.

Senators are elected to six-year terms by direct election on a provincial basis, with the party with the most votes being awarded two of the province's senate seats and the second-place party receiving the third seat. Historically, senators were indirectly elected to nine-year terms by each provincial legislature. These provisions were abolished in the 1994 constitutional amendment, and the first direct elections to the Senate took effect in 2001. Currently one-third of the members are elected every two years; there are no term limits.

The vice president of the republic is ex officio president of the Senate, with a casting vote in the event of a tie. In practice, the provisional president presides over the chamber most of the time.

The Senate must obtain quorum to deliberate, this being an absolute majority. It has the power to approve bills passed by the Chamber of Deputies, call for joint sessions with the lower house or special sessions with experts and interested parties, and submit bills for the president's signature; bills introduced in the Senate must, in turn, be approved by the Chamber of Deputies for their submission to the president. The Senate must introduce any changes to federal revenue sharing policies, ratify international treaties, approve changes to constitutional or federal criminal laws, as well as confirm or impeach presidential nominees to the cabinet, the judiciary, the armed forces, and the diplomatic corps, among other federal posts.^[2]

There are twenty-four standing committees made up of fifteen members each, namely:^[2]

Agreements (confirmation of federal nominees)
Constitutional Affairs
Foreign Affairs and Worship
Justice and Criminal Affairs
General Legislation
Budget and Finance
Administrative and Municipal Affairs
National Defense
Domestic Security and Drug Trafficking
National Economy and Investment
Industry and Trade
Regional Economies, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Labor and Social Security
Agriculture, Cattle Raising and Fishing
Education, Culture, Science and Technology
Rights and Guarantees
Mining, Energy and Fuels
Health and Sports
Infrastructure, Housing and Transport
Systems, Media and Freedom of Speech
Environment and Human Development
Population and Human Development
Federal Revenue Sharing
Tourism.

Requirements

According to Section 55 of the Argentine Constitution, candidates for the Argentine Senate must:

be at least 30 years old
have been a citizen of Argentina for six years
be native to the province of her or his office, or have been a resident of that province for two years.

Composition

Inter-bloc		Bloc	President
	Union for the Homeland (33)	National People's Front (17)	José Mayans
	Union for the Homeland (33)	Citizen Unity (16)	Juliana Di Tullio
	Radical Civic Union (13)		Eduardo Vischi [es]
	La Libertad Avanza (7)		Ezequiel Atauche [es]
	We Do Federal Coalition (7)	Federal Change (4)	Juan Carlos Romero
	We Do Federal Coalition (7)	Federal Unity (3)	Carlos Espínola
	PRO Front (6)		Luis Juez
	Federal Innovation (3)	Front for the Renewal of Concord (2)	Carlos Omar Arce [es]
	Federal Innovation (3)	Together We Are Río Negro (1)	Mónica Esther Silva [es]
	For Santa Cruz (2)		José María Carambia [es]
	For Social Justice (1)		Beatriz Ávila

Source: senado.gob.ar (last update: 20 November 2023)

Senate leadership

The titular president of the Senate is the vice president of Argentina. However, day-to-day leadership of the Senate is exercised by the provisional president.

Current leadership positions include:^[3]

Title	Officeholder	Caucus	Province
President of the Senate^[a]	Victoria Villarruel	La Libertad Avanza	City of Buenos Aires
Provisional President	Bartolomé Abdala	La Libertad Avanza	San Luis
Vice President	Vacant	Union for the Homeland	—
First Vice President	Carolina Losada	Radical Civic Union	Santa Fe
Second Vice President	Alejandra Vigo	Federal Unity	Córdoba
Parliamentary Secretary	Agustín Giustinian	—
Administrative Secretary	María Laura Izzo	—
First Minority Leader	José Mayans	Union for the Homeland	Formosa
Second Minority Leader	Alfredo Cornejo	Radical Civic Union	Mendoza