The results of Sunday’s midterm elections will make it easier for President Javier Milei to pass planned labor, pension and tax reforms during the second half of his term.
His far-right La Libertad Avanza party ran with the conservative PRO party, garnering over 40% of the vote at a national level, with Peronism coming a distant second.
While the scales will tip more in his favor, he still won’t have an overall majority. Instead, he’ll have to negotiate with small blocs. Here’s what you need to know about how Milei could get the numbers he needs in Argentina’s new Congress.
When do Argentina’s lawmakers take office? Elected lawmakers will take their seats in both houses on December 10.
How many deputies will Milei have? Twenty-nine LLA deputies and 14 from PRO will keep their seats until 2027. On Sunday, 64 new LLA-PRO deputies were elected. This adds up to 107.
It is unclear whether LLA and PRO will form an official alliance.
Which parties will support Milei? LLA and PRO are likely to have support from allies, including:
La Liga del Interior (3 deputies) — formally allied with LLA in the chamber Unión Cívica Radical (3 deputies) — they will hold their seats until 2027 and have backed Milei in the past LLA breakaways (6 deputies) — they split with the party, but are likely to back the government on key proposals aligned with their ideology Encuentro Federal (8 deputies) — a centrist bloc with two more years in their seats. Also expected to back Milei. The LLA-PRO alliance plus these groups adds up to 127.
Small blocs that respond to Milei-friendly governors, such as the three from Tucumán, could easily help drive the number over 129. This is the simple majority required to begin debates and pass laws. They will have far more than the one-third minority needed to fend off attempts to overturn presidential decrees.
How many deputies did Milei have before? LLA currently has 37 deputies. PRO has 35. They are not formally a bloc, but they typically vote together.
How many deputies does Argentina’s hard opposition have? The Peronist bloc Fuerza Patria and the left-wing Frente de Izquierda will be the only opposition blocs in the Lower House that do not support the government. Depending on the issue, they may have support from three Democracia Para Siempre deputies, a group of former UCR members who refused to keep backing LLA.
Fuerza Patria currently has 98 deputies. That number will remain the same after December 10. Of those, 52 are up for re-election in 2027. It will remain the largest bloc unless LLA and PRO formally join forces.
Frente de Izquierda will have four deputies.
Overall, the hard opposition would have 106 lawmakers.
Who will be in the Senate? Argentina’s Senate has 72 seats. A third of them are renewed every two years.
The Senate will be divided into thirds:
LLA and PRO (24 senators) Peronism (24 senators) Smaller parties, including UCR with 9 senators, and local fronts How will the Senate change? LLA will significantly increase its Senate presence. Currently, it only has 6 senators, while PRO has 7.
Peronism lost 10 senators. It currently has 34, just two shy of quorum. From December onwards, it will be harder for Fuerza Patria to push its agenda in a chamber that had been dominated by Peronists for the past decade.
What laws will Milei send to Congress? Milei plans to push “second-generation reforms” in the second half of his presidential term, which he says include labor, pension and tax overhauls. Details haven’t been confirmed yet, but early drafts of a possible labor reform suggest it could include allowing working days of up to 12 hours, “dynamic” salaries, and paying a portion of workers’ wages in supermarket vouchers. The government argues that more flexible labor legislation would make it easier for companies to put informal workers on the books, granting them access to benefits and increasing pensions payments, but unions say the proposal would worsen existing problems with poor labor conditions.
What do analysts think? “Milei now has broader chances of moving forward with those reforms, given the size of the bloc, but it’s not guaranteed he will be able to do so,” said Lara Goyburu, political analyst and chief executive officer of the Management & Fit consultancy.
“He will need the support from governors and their allies, as well as the smaller blocs, to pass those reforms,” Goyburu said. “Those negotiations will be easier, but agreements are not granted.”
When could the reforms be debated? Milei will reportedly call for extraordinary sessions during the summer, when Congress is usually on break, showing that the government views passing these bills as an urgent issue.
