View source for Argentine Senate

{{short description|Upper house of the Argentine National Congress}}
{{For|provincial legislatures|List of provincial legislatures in Argentina}}
{{Infobox legislature
|background_color  = #75AADB
|name              = Honorable Chamber of Senators of the Argentine Nation
|native_name       = Honorable Cámara de Senadores de la Nación Argentina
|coa_pic           = Logo_Senado_Argentina.png
|coa_res           = 150
|legislature       = [[List of Argentine senators, 2025-2027|2025–2027 period]]
|house_type        = Upper house
|body              = National Congress of Argentina
|term_limits       = None
|leader1_type      = [[Vice President of Argentina|President of the Senate]]
|leader1           = [[Victoria Villarruel]]
|party1            = [[La Libertad Avanza|LLA]]
|election1         = 10 December 2023
|leader2_type      = [[List of Provisional Presidents of the Argentine Senate|Provisional President]]
|leader2           = [[Bartolomé Abdala]]
|party2            = [[La Libertad Avanza|LLA]]
|election2         = 13 December 2023
|leader3_type      = First Minority Leader
|leader3           = [[José Mayans]]
|party3            = [[Union for the Homeland|UP]]
|election3         = 10 December 2019
|leader4_type      = Second Minority Leader
|leader4           = [[Eduardo Vischi]]
|party4            = [[Radical Civic Union|UCR]]
|election4         = 10 December 2023
|members           = 72 {{small|([[List of current Argentine senators|List]])}}
|structure1        = File:Argentine Senate 2025.svg
|structure1_res    = 250px
|political_groups1 =
'''Government (6)'''
*{{color box|#6C4C99|border=silver}} [[La Libertad Avanza|LLA]] (6)
'''Allies (7)'''
*{{color box|#FFD700|border=silver}} [[Republican Proposal|PRO]] (7)
'''Independents (25)'''
*{{color box|#E10019|border=silver}} [[Radical Civic Union|UCR]] (13)
*{{color box|#19BC9D|border=silver}} [[Hacemos Federal Coalition]] (3)
*{{color box|#0A1172|border=silver}} [[Front for the Renewal of Concord|Federal Innovation]] (3)
*{{color box|#0D69B4|border=silver}} [[SER Santa Cruz|For Santa Cruz]] (2)
*{{color box|#84E6FF|border=silver}} For Social Justice (1)
*{{color box|#1B793E|border=silver}} Freedom, Work and Progress (1)
*{{color box|#FFD990|border=silver}} Wake Up Chubut (1)
*{{color box|#0070B8|border=silver}} [[Neuquén People's Movement|Neuquén Movement]] (1)
'''Opposition (34)'''
*{{color box|#00BEFF|border=silver}} [[Union for the Homeland|UP]] (34)
|term_length       = 6 years
|voting_system1    = [[Limited voting]]{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}<br>[[Party-list proportional representation]]
|last_election1    = [[2025 Argentine legislative election|26 October 2025]]<br>(24 seats)
|next_election1    = [[2027 Argentine legislative election|2027]]<br>(24 seats)
|session_room      = Michelle Bachelet at the Argentine Senate.jpg
|meeting_place     = Chamber of Senators, [[Palace of the Argentine National Congress|Congress Palace]],<br />[[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]
|website           = {{URL|https://www.senado.gob.ar/|senado.gob.ar}}
}}

[[File:Senado de la Nación DSCF1721.jpg|thumb|240px|The [[Alfredo Palacios]] Senate Office Building]]
The '''Chamber of Senators of the Argentine Nation''' ({{langx|es|Cámara de Senadores de la Nación Argentina}}) or '''Senate''', officially the '''Honorable Chamber of Senators of the Argentine Nation''' ({{langx|es|Honorable Cámara de Senadores de la Nación Argentina}}) is the [[upper house]] of the [[National Congress of Argentina]].

==Overview==
{{update|section|date=June 2025}}
The National Senate was established by the [[Argentine Confederation]] on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the [[Argentine Constitution of 1853|1853 Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/cecap/publicaciones/reglamento/titulo01.htm |title=Sesiónes preparatorias e incorporación y juramento de los senadores electos |publisher=Argentine Senate |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718070807/http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/cecap/publicaciones/reglamento/titulo01.htm |archive-date=2009-07-18 }}</ref> There are 72 members: three for each [[Provinces of Argentina|province]] and three for the [[Buenos Aires|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 [[Argentine general election, 1995|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 [[indirect election|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 Argentina|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 [[List of provisional presidents of the Argentine Senate|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 [[Argentine Chamber of Deputies|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.<ref name=reg>{{cite web|url=http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/informacion/legislativo/senado/reglamento/reglamento_hsn_ingles.pdf |title=National Senate Regulations |publisher=Argentine Senate |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524115941/http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/informacion/legislativo/senado/reglamento/reglamento_hsn_ingles.pdf |archive-date=2012-05-24 }}</ref>

===Committees===
{{as of|2012}} there were 24 standing committees made up of 15 members each, namely:<ref name=reg/>

*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==
{{Main|List of current Argentine senators}}
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" | Inter-bloc
! Bloc
! President
|-
| rowspan="3" style="background-color: {{party color|Union for the Homeland}}"|
| rowspan="3" | '''[[Union for the Homeland]]''' (34)
| [[Justicialist Party|National People's Front]] (15)
| [[José Mayans]]
|-
| [[Unidad Ciudadana|Citizen Unity]] (15)
| [[Juliana Di Tullio]]
|-
| Federal Conviction (4)
| {{Ill|Fernando Aldo Salino|es}}
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Radical Civic Union}}"|
| colspan="2" | '''[[Radical Civic Union]]''' (13)
| [[Eduardo Vischi]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Proposal}}"|
| colspan="2" | '''[[Republican Proposal|PRO Front]]''' (7)
| [[Alfredo de Angeli|Alfredo Luis De Angeli]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|La Libertad Avanza}}"|
| colspan="2" | '''[[La Libertad Avanza]]''' (6)
| [[Ezequiel Atauche]]
|-
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:#19bc9d"|
| rowspan="2" | '''We Do Federal Coalition''' (3)
| [[Hacemos por Nuestro País|Federal Unity]] (2)
| [[Carlos Espínola (sailor)|Carlos Espínola]]
|-
| Federal Change (1)
| [[Juan Carlos Romero (politician)|Juan Carlos Romero]]
|-
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:#0a1172"|
| rowspan="2" | '''[[Federal Peronism|Federal Innovation]]''' (3)
| [[Front for the Renewal of Concord]] (2)
| {{Ill|Carlos Omar Arce|es}}
|-
| [[Together We Are Río Negro]] (1)
| [[Mónica Esther Silva]]
|-
| style="background-color:#0d69b4"|
| colspan="2" | '''[[SER Santa Cruz|For Santa Cruz]]''' (2)
| {{Ill|José María Carambia|es}}
|-
| style="background-color:#84e6ff"|
| colspan="2" | '''[[Juntos por el Cambio|For Social Justice]]''' (1)
| [[Beatriz Ávila]]
|-
| style="background-color:#FFFFFF"|
| colspan="2" | '''Freedom, Work and Progress''' (1)
| {{Ill|Francisco Paoltroni|es}}
|-
| style="background-color:#FFFFFF"|
| colspan="2" | '''Wake up Chubut''' (1)
| {{Ill|Edith Terenzi|es}}
|-
| style="background-color:#FFFFFF"|
| colspan="2" | '''[[Neuquén People's Movement|Neuquén Movement]]''' (1)
| [[Carmen Lucila Crexell]]
|-
| colspan="4" bgcolor="#E9E9E9"|
|-
| colspan="4" | Source: [https://www.senado.gob.ar/senadores/listados/agrupados-por-bloques senado.gob.ar] {{small|(last update: 4 April 2025)}}
|}

==Senate leadership==
{{Update|section |date=May 2024 |reason=it contradicts the infobox}}
The titular president of the Senate is the [[vice president of Argentina]]. However, day-to-day leadership of the Senate is exercised by the [[List of provisional presidents of the Argentine Senate|provisional president]].

Current leadership positions include:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senado.gov.ar/autoridades|title=Autoridades|publisher=Honorable Senado de la Nación|access-date=January 5, 2020}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! Title !! Officeholder !! Caucus !! Province
|-
|President of the Senate{{efn|''Ex officio'' as [[Vice President of Argentina]].}}||[[Victoria Villarruel]]||[[La Libertad Avanza]]||{{Flag|Buenos Aires|name=City of Buenos Aires}}
|-
|[[List of provisional presidents of the Argentine Senate|Provisional President]]||[[Bartolomé Abdala]]||[[La Libertad Avanza]]||{{Flag|San Luis}}
|-
|Vice President||[[Silvia Sapag]]||[[Union for the Homeland]]||{{Flag|Neuquén}}
|-
|First Vice President||[[Carolina Losada]]||[[Radical Civic Union]]||{{Flag|Santa Fe}}
|-
|Second Vice President||[[Alejandra Vigo]]||[[Federal Peronism|Federal Unity]]||{{Flag|Córdoba}}
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary||[[Agustín Giustinian]] 
|colspan="2" rowspan="2" {{N/A}}
|-
|Administrative Secretary||[[María Laura Izzo]] 
|-
|First Minority Leader||[[José Mayans]]||[[Union for the Homeland]]||{{Flag|Formosa}}
|-
|Second Minority Leader||[[Alfredo Cornejo (politician)|Alfredo Cornejo]]||[[Radical Civic Union]]||{{Flag|Mendoza}}
|-

|}

== See also ==
* [[List of Argentine senators, 2021–2023|List of current Argentine senators]]
* [[Argentine Chamber of Deputies]]
* [[List of former Argentine senators]]
* [[List of legislatures by country]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons cat}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Argentine national senators, 2023–2025}}
{{Argentine government}}
{{National upper houses}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|34.6105|S|58.3910|W|source:wikidata|display=title}}

[[Category:National upper houses|Argentina]]
[[Category:Government of Argentina|Senate]]
[[Category:National Congress of Argentina]]
[[Category:1854 establishments in Argentina]]
[[Category:Federal chambers]]