We’re covering Congress gets more budget control in latest win over the Bolsonaro administration. The new (yet empty) Amazon Council. And the possibility for improved relations between Brazil and Argentina.
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Congress to get unprecedented powers over Brazil’s budget
Brazilian lawmakers are set to strike down a presidential veto today—changing the rules of how the federal budget is executed. Members of Congress will give themselves powers to dictate the order of priority for carrying out parliamentary grants. These are provisions in the Constitution that prevent the Executive branch from having monopoly control over the federal budget. Legislators may allocate parts of the budget to projects of their interest—usually infrastructure or healthcare ventures in their constituencies.
Losing the whip? Until today, the sitting government decided when these grants would be granted and to whom. That power turned the grants into a bargaining chip administrations used to whip votes for approving bills of their interest.
Why it matters. The change drastically reduces the government’s control over the budget and grants Congress unprecedented powers. But it was only possible because the current administration has no presidential coalition to back up its interests.
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