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Congress of the Union

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General Congress of the
United Mexican States

Congreso General de los
Estados Unidos Mexicanos
LXVI Legislature
Seal of the Congress
Type
Type
HousesSenate of the Republic
Chamber of Deputies
History
Founded28 September 1821 (1821-09-28)
Leadership
Gerardo Fernández Noroña (MORENA)
since 1 September 2024 (2024-09-01)
Sergio Gutiérrez Luna (MORENA)
since 8 October 2024 (2024-10-08)
Structure
Seats628
(500 Deputies)
(128 Senators)
Senate political groups
Government (86)
  •   MORENA (66)
  •   PVEM (14)
  •   PT (6)

Opposition (42)

Chamber of Deputies political groups
Government (364)

Opposition (136)

AuthorityTitle III, Chapter II of the
Political Constitution of the United Mexican States
Salary$119,770 pesos (Senator)
$99,071 pesos (Deputy)
Elections
Last Senate election
2 June 2024 (2024-06-02)
Last Chamber of Deputies election
2 June 2024 (2024-06-02)
Next Senate election
2 June 2030 (2030-06-02)
Next Chamber of Deputies election
6 June 2027 (2027-06-06)
Motto
La Patria Es Primero
(The Fatherland Is First)
Meeting place
Senate Building
Mexico City
San Lázaro Building
Mexico City
Website
Senate website
Chamber of Deputies website
Constitution
Mexican Constitution of 1917
Rules
"Organic Law of the General Congress of the United Mexican States" (Spanish)
Rules for the Interior Government of the General Congress of the United Mexican States" (Spanish)
San Lázaro Building, the Chamber of Deputies, Congress of the Union

The Congress of the Union (Spanish: Congreso de la Unión, pronounced [koŋˈɡɾeso ðe lawˈnjon]), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico. It consists of two chambers: the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. Its 628 members (128 senators and 500 deputies) meet in Mexico City.

Structure

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Main articles: Senate of the Republic (Mexico) and Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)
See also: Elections in Mexico

The Congress is a bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. Its structure and responsibilities are defined in the Third Title, Second Chapter, Articles 50 to 79 of the 1917 Constitution. The upper chamber is the Senate, Cámara de Senadores or Senado. It comprises 128 seats: 96 members are elected by plurality vote, with three members being elected in each state (two seats are awarded to the winning party or coalition and one to the first runner-up); the other 32 members are elected by proportional representation in a single country-wide constituency. Senators serve six-year terms.

The lower house is the Chamber of Deputies, or Cámara de Diputados. It has 500 seats; 300 members are elected by plurality vote and the other 200 members are elected according to proportional representation (PR), through a system of regional lists (one for each of the five constituencies established for the election by law).[1] Deputies serve three-year terms.

The 200 PR seats are distributed generally without taking into account the 300 plurality seats (parallel voting). Since 1996, however, a party cannot get more seats overall than 8% above its result for the PR seats (a party must win 42% of the votes for the PR seats to achieve an overall majority).

There are two exceptions to that rule. A party can lose only PR seats by that rule (not plurality seats). Also, a party cannot get more than 300 seats overall (even if it has more than 52% of the votes for the PR seats).

Powers

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The powers invested in Congress are defined in article 73 of the Constitution. Among its powers, Congress can admit new States into the Union, alter the allocation of powers granted to the federal government, lay and collect taxes, declare war (upon request of the Government), provide for and maintain the Union's armed forces, and coordinate economic activities.

Article 74, 75 and 76 of the Constitution state that each Chamber can address specific matters. In fact, some powers are reserved either to the Chamber of Deputies or to the Chamber of Senators, making the Congress of the Union an example of imperfect bicameralism. For example, the former can approve the federal budget submitted by the Government, while the latter has the power to analyze the foreign policy of the Government, approve or dismiss the Presidential nominations of the Attorney General, Supreme Court Justices, diplomatic agents, general consuls, and senior civil and military officials.

Permanent Committee

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The Comisión Permanente del Congreso de la Unión, translated variously as the Permanent Committee or Standing Committee, is a body of 19 deputies and 18 senators that is responsible for tasks relating to the Congress when it is in recess.

Term

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It is conventional to refer to each Legislature by the Roman numeral of its term. Thus, the current Congress (whose term lasts from 2024 to 2027) is known as the "LXVI Legislature"; the previous Congress (whose term lasted from 2018 to 2021) was the "LXIV Legislature", and so forth. The I Legislature of Congress was the one that met right after the Constituent Congress that enacted the 1857 Constitution.

Early in the 20th century, the revolutionary leader Francisco I. Madero popularized the slogan Sufragio Efectivo – no Reelección ("Effective suffrage, no reelection"). In keeping with that long-held principle, and until 2014, the 1917 Constitution stated that "Deputies and Senators could not be reelected for the next immediate term".[2]

Reelection

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See also: Sexenio (Mexico)

On February 10, 2014, Article 59 of the Mexican Constitution was amended to allow reelection to the legislative bodies for the first time. Starting with the general election of 2018, deputies and senators are allowed to run for reelection.[3] Members of the Chamber of Deputies may serve up to four terms of three years each while members of the Senate may serve two terms of six years each; in total, members of both houses will be allowed to remain in office for a total of 12 years.[4]

Last election

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See also: 2018 Mexican general election and LXIV Legislature of the Mexican Congress

Senate

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Party Constituency Proportional Total
seats 		/–
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
National Regeneration Movement 661,068 1.18 2 21,261,577 37.50 13 55 New
National Action Party 600,423 1.07 1 9,971,804 17.59 6 23 Decrease 15
Institutional Revolutionary Party 3,855,984 6.86 0 9,013,658 15.90 6 13 Decrease 44
Party of the Democratic Revolution 96,393 0.17 0 2,984,861 5.27 2 8 Decrease 15
Citizens' Movement 570,774 1.01 2 2,654,452 4.68 2 7 Increase 6
Ecologist Green Party 1,198,011 2.13 0 2,528,175 4.46 2 7 Decrease 3
Labor Party 51,260 0.09 0 2,164,442 3.82 1 6 Increase 2
Social Encounter Party 28,878 0.05 0 1,320,559 2.33 0 8 New
New Alliance Party 593,507 1.06 0 1,307,015 2.31 0 1 Steady 0
MORENA–PT–PES[a] 23,754,422 42.24 53 – – – – –
PAN–PRD–MC[b] 14,222,046 25.29 25 – – – – –
PRI–PVEM–PNA[c] 7,145,869 12.71 13 – – – – –
Independents 1,109,149 1.97 – 1,109,149 1.97 – 0 Steady 0
Write-ins 30,568 0.05 – 31,820 0.06 – – –
Invalid/blank votes 2,319,489 4.12 – 2,344,357 4.14 – – –
Total 56,237,841 100 96 56,691,869 100 32 128 0
Registered voters/turnout 89,994,039 62.49 – 89,994,039 63.52 – – –
Source: INE

a Of the 53 seats won by the MORENA-PT–PES alliance, 40 were taken by MORENA, 8 by the PES, and 5 by the PT

b Of the 25 seats won by the PAN–PRD–MC alliance, 16 were taken by the PAN, 6 by the PRD, and 3 by the MC

c Of the 13 seats won by the PRI–PVEM–PNA alliance, 7 were taken by the PRI, 5 by the PVEM, and 1 by the PNA

Chamber of Deputies

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Party District Proportional Total
seats 		/–
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
National Regeneration Movement 709,840 1.27 8 20,972,573 37.25 84 189 Increase 154
National Action Party 697,595 1.25 5 10,096,588 17.93 41 83 Decrease 25
Institutional Revolutionary Party 4,351,824 7.78 1 9,310,523 16.54 38 45 Decrease 158
Party of the Democratic Revolution 124,808 0.22 0 2,967,969 5.27 12 21 Decrease 35
Ecologist Green Party 1,429,802 2.55 0 2,695,405 4.79 11 16 Decrease 31
Citizens' Movement 268,876 0.48 0 2,485,198 4.41 10 27 Increase 1
Labor Party 67,429 0.12 0 2,211,753 3.93 4 61 Increase 55
New Alliance Party 705,432 1.26 0 1,391,376 2.47 0 2 Decrease 8
Social Encounter Party 54,906 0.10 0 1,353,941 2.40 0 56 Increase 48
MORENA–PT–PES[a] 23,513,132 42.01 210 – – – – –
PAN–PRD–MC[b] 14,381,872 25.70 63 – – – – –
PRI–PVEM–PNA[c] 6,862,372 12.26 13 – – – – –
Independents 539,347 0.96 0 539,347 0.96 0 0 Decrease 1
Write-ins 32,625 0.06 – 32,959 0.06 – – –
Invalid/blank votes 2,227,573 3.98 – 2,242,615 3.98 – – –
Total 55,967,433 100 300 56,300,247 100 200 500 0
Registered voters/turnout 89,994,039 62.20 – 89,994,039 63.21 – – –
Source: INE

a Of the 210 seats won by the MORENA-PT–PES alliance, 97 were taken by MORENA, 57 by the PT, and 56 by the PES

b Of the 63 seats won by the PAN–PRD–MC alliance, 37 were taken by the PAN, 17 by the MC, and 9 by the PRD

c Of the 13 seats won by the PRI–PVEM–PNA alliance, 6 were taken by the PRI, 5 by the PVEM, and 2 by the PNA

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "El proyecto - Elección 2012 México: Elecciones, Candidatos a la Presidencia, encuestas electorales". Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  2. ^ Constitution of 1917, articles 50, 59.
  3. ^ "Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Artículo 59". Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 October 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. ^ Becerra, Bertha (20 May 2014). "Habría reelección de diputados y senadores a partir del 2018". La Prensa (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
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