Silent deputies – the lawmakers who said nothing (or nearly nothing) in Congress last year

Although there was plenty of action in Congress last year, not all deputies left their trace. Between February and December, exactly 1,149,895 words were pronounced in the lower house in one of the most active periods of ordinary sessions for an election year since 2017. But behind that high volume of activity appeared another face of Congress: the deputies who hardly ever or directly never spoke.

An annual report elaborated on the basis of the typed records of the Chamber of Deputies for the “Índice de Calidad Legislativa” sharply exposes the contrast. While there were long debates, special sessions, information meetings and even the visit of then-Cabinet chief Guillermo Francos to answer questions on the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency case, a large group of deputies closed the year with zero oral participation.

The most striking figure came from the bottom of the table. No less than 17 lower house deputies ended 2025 without pronouncing a single word, not even to express their vote. To that group may be added an equally eloquent universe: deputies with barely one, two, three or several dozen words registered to their name in all the parliamentary year. 

The deputies saying nothing

The most extreme group consists of the 17 deputies who closed 2025 with a score of nil. Of those, eight represent President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party: Pablo Ansaloni, Rocío Bonacci, Facundo Correa Llano, Nicolás Emma, Florencia Klipauka Lewtak, Lorena Macyszyn, Guillermo Montenegro and Carolina Píparo.

To that group should be added eight deputies from Unión por la Patria: Tanya Bertoldi, Celia Campitelli, Gabriela Estévez, José Gómez, Magalí Mastaler, Marcela Passo, Julio Pereyra and Brenda Vargas Matyi, along with PRO’s Nancy Ballejos.

Within that group two cases stand out even more. One was Rocío Bonacci, who completed her second year as deputy without speaking once on the house floor. The other, worse still, was Julio Pereyra, who concluded his four-year term without uttering a single word.

This figure carries even more impact because it did not happen in a year of legislative paralysis. On the contrary, the Chamber of Deputies was intensely active with a dozen special and extraordinary sessions and information meetings in February and December with no lack of opportunity to speak up. 

What there was, in these cases, was silence.

Those offering less than 100 words

Below those 17 deputies scoring nil there appeared another platoon who, while not technically wordless, had an equally marginal participation. Those are the deputies who did not total 100 words all year – in political terms, almost an oral absence.

Just above that ceiling was Ricardo Garramuño (Somos Fueguinos) with 104 words. Further below figure PRO’s María Sotolano with 62 words, Daniel Vancsik and Yamila Ruiz of Innovación Federal with 25 and 24 words respectively, and Encuentro Federal’s Jorge Ávila with 22.

They were followed by Ricardo Daives (Unión por la Patria) and Elia Marina Fernández (Independencia) with 13 words each. The latter’s contribution responded to her oath of December 3 when she said: “For the province of Tucumán and my dear city of Aguilares, yes, I swear!” (14 words in English when translated).

Even lower rank Gabriel Chumpitaz of Futuro y Libertad with 11 words; Ignacio García Aresca of Encuentro Federal with 10, Marcela Antola, Emilio Monzó and Juan Carlos Polini with nine and Gabriela Besana and Sofía Brambilla with  eight.

Then come Jorge Antonio Romero and Aníbal Tortoriello with seven words and Romina Diez and Estela Mary Neder with six, followed by Luis Basterra, Gerardo Gustavo González, Luciano Laspina, María Luisa Montoto and Florencio Randazzo with four. 

Belén Avico, Beltrán Benedit, Alejandro Bongiovanni, María Florencia De Sensi, Carlos García, Roxana Monzón, María de los Ángeles Moreno, Nilda Moyano, José Carlos Núñez, Verónica Razzini, César Treffinger and Natalia Zabala Chacur are even further down the list with three words.

Just two words from Hilda Aguirre and Ramiro Fernández Patri with only a minimal single word from Héctor Baldassi, Emmanuel Bianchetti, Jorge Chica, Dante López Rodríguez, Gisela Marziotta, María Graciela Parola, José Federico Tournier and Martín Yeza in all 2025.

Speaking to vote, not debate

Many in this minimal category did not correspond to any formal speeches but the obligation to inform which way they were voting when the electronic system did not click – in other words, deputies who had not spoken in any debate but did not score nil only because at some point they had to say “affirmative,” “negative” or something akin.

That detail explains why 43 deputies overall did not deliver any speech during the year and, even so, did not draw a complete blank, simply remaining registered with one or a few words due to that voting mechanism.

The difference, then, is technical but not political. On one side, deputies not saying absolutely anything and on the other, others barely opening their mouths to clarify how they voted. In both cases, the basic conclusion is similar: practically zero oral participation on the house floor.

Year of high activity

The other side of such silence was a 2025 with much parliamentary expression. The survey counted 1,149,895 words pronounced between February and December in a year when the Chamber was unusually active, given the electoral calendar.

Lower House Speaker Martín Menem again headed the general ranking with 84,977 words, favoured by his role requiring him to intervene permanently to conduct debate and grant deputies the right to speak. Behind him was opposition whip Germán Martínez with 33,991 words and leftist Christian Castillo with 33,932.

Nicolás Massot, Silvana Giudici, Juan Manuel López, Pablo Juliano, Nicolás del Caño, Miguel Ángel Pichetto and Victoria Tolosa Paz also stood out with large contributions. The left again showed a very high oral presence in comparison with other caucuses with several of its members in the top places.

That contrast ends up making the silent even more visible because while some deputies accumulated thousands of words, others went the entire year without intervening or with such scant participation that they barely sufficed for an oath, the clarification of a vote or a loose phrase.

Of course, the count does not of itself measure the quality of legislative work. Speaking a lot on the house floor does not necessarily imply a better deputy just as low oral expression does not suffice to define all parliamentary work. Committee activities, political negotiations, the presentation of bills or territorial work back home also form part of the job.

But the figures do not cease to be significant. The house floor is the central scenario of political representation, the place where the deputies fix stances, defend bills, respond to criticism and give voice in debates with an impact on millions of people. That is why ending an entire year without speaking or uttering less than 100 words should not pass unnoticed.