Congress also ratifies international treaties, approves the national budget, and authorizes loans on behalf of the country.

The Deputies reunited in the Legislative Palace and the Senators went to the former Peruvian Inquisition of Lima until 1930, when Augusto B. Leguía was overthrown by Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro.

By order of the president, the Peruvian Aprista Party members that were in Congress were arrested for their revolutionary doctrines against the government.

When Sánchez Cerro was assassinated in 1933 by an APRA member, General Óscar R. Benavides took power and closed Congress until 1939, when Manuel Prado Ugarteche was elected president.

In 1968, Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew president Fernando Belaúnde by a coup d'état, closing again the Congress.

Party-list proportional representation was used for both chambers: on a regional basis for the Senate, and using the D'Hondt method for the lower house.

[13] The 2016-2021 congressional term was dissolved by President Martín Vizcarra in September 2019,[14] triggering the 2019–2020 Peruvian constitutional crisis.

[15] On 7 December 2022, the president Pedro Castillo attempted self-coup d'état by unconstitutionally dissolving Congress and the state apparatus as a whole.

[16][17][18] Article 90 of the Peruvian Constitution sets three qualifications for congressmen: (1) they must be natural-born citizens; (2) they must be at least 25 years old; (3) they must be an eligible voter.

Furthermore, Article 91 states that high-ranking government officers and any member of the armed forces or national police can only become congressmen six months after leaving their post.

Congressmen may not be tried or arrested without prior authorization from Congress from the time of their election until a month after the end of their term.

[20] La Comisión de Ética Parlamentaria, or Parliamentary Ethics Committee, is in charge of enforcing the code and punishing violators.

[19] The process is started by the Criminal Sector of the Supreme Court who presents the case to the Presidency of Congress.

[21] Congressman also receive a one-time extra monthly salary before the beginning of their term, known as an installation expenses allowance.

[19] This has happened once since the adoption of the current constitution when Valentín Paniagua became the interim president after the fall of the Alberto Fujimori regime in 2000.

El Consejo Directivo, or Executive Council, consists of the four members of the Bureau as well as representatives from each political party in Congress which are known as Executive-Spokespersons.

[30] Standing Committees are in charge of the study and report of routine business of the calendar, especially in the legislative and oversight function.

The President of Congress, in coordination with Parliamentary Groups or upon consultation with the Executive Council, proposes the number of Standing Committees.

[20] The Permanent Assembly, or Comisión Permanente, fulfills the basic functions of Congress when it is under recess or break.

La Comisión de Ética Parlamentaria, or Parliamentary Ethics Committee, is in charge of enforcing the code and punishing violators.

[20] Article 102 of the Peruvian Constitution delineated ten specific functions of Congress which deal with both its legislative power as well as its role as a check and a balance to the other branches of government:[19] After widespread protests the previous year, the 2021 election saw a surge in support for the new left-wing Free Peru, which also won the presidential election with Pedro Castillo on the same day.

[7] Popular Force, which had dominated the legislature during the reign of Keiko Fujimori, regained 9 seats since their poor performance in the 2020 election, making them the second largest party.

The new or previously minor parties that had gained ground in the 2020 election, Purple Party, We Are Peru and Podemos Perú also all lost seats, while the Ethnocacerist Union for Peru, leftist Broad Front and Agrarian Agricultural People's Front all failed to win any seats.

Contigo, the successor to former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's Peruvians for Change party, also failed to win a seat and continued its downwards trend of the previous election, receiving only around 0.05% of the vote.

[31] The Senate will have the power to appoint the presidents of the Central Reserve Bank and the Court of Auditors, among other offices.

Peruvian ex-president Martín Vizcarra proposed a series of political reforms as a response to the CNM audios scandal during his Independence Day message on 28 July 2018.

[35] Following the 2021 Peruvian general election, disapproval of Congress increased dramatically, from 61% in August 2021 to 91% in March 2023 according to IEP polls.