Congress is back, but Lula must grease the wheels of the House

Brazil’s Congress kicked off the 2023 legislative year pretty late, with initial floor votes occurring only in April — two months after the start of the legislature. However, despite the delay, legislators had a fairly productive first semester. 

The House approved 87 bills on the floor, including a long-awaited tax reform (which will now be considered by the Senate). Meanwhile, the Senate passed 76 bills on the floor, including an equal pay law making it mandatory for companies to pay men and women the same salaries for the same job.

As legislators returned to Brasília on Tuesday after a two-week recess, the relationship between the government and Congress seems to be back where it was at the beginning of the year.

With a plethora of bills focused on economic policy, Congress holds the keys to the success of the current administration — which needs approval from both legislative chambers on its new fiscal framework and the tax reform. 

The agenda moving forward

The House was expected to focus on the new fiscal framework, while the Senate concentrates on tax reform. But House Speaker Arthur Lira has tapped the breaks on discussions around the proposal until government delivers on a...