Work in Congress is beginning to properly get underway in 2024, with lawmakers selecting the leaders of standing committees, a key component of the legislative process in Brazil.
And, the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government once again showed its vulnerability in Congress, failing to block the appointment of radical far-right politicians to the head of some of the most important lower house committees.
And that could create plenty of hurdles for the administration moving forward.
Standing committees are crucial to Brazil’s legislative process. Before they can be approved, the majority of bills or constitutional amendment proposals must pass through at least one committee.
In some cases, the committees actually have the final say, and can enact laws without having to hold floor votes. As a result, controlling these committees gives political parties serious agenda-setting powers in Congress.
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In this episode:
- Isabela Cruz covers politics and the judiciary for The Brazilian Report. She is based in Rio de Janeiro.
Background reading:
- Last year showed that the Lula government is losing its influence over Congress, despite some important legislative victories.
- In episode #279 of Explaining Brazil, we looked at the major challenges the government is set to face in Congress this year, and the arrangement of House committees could well make those tests trickier.
- Last year’s committee distribution in Congress was perhaps more favorable to the government, with the Workers’ Party obtaining some strategic positions in key committees.
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Transcript of this episode (with Cockatoo)
Euan Marshall: Work in Congress is beginning to properly get underway in 2024, with lawmakers selecting the leaders of standing committees, a key component of the legislative process in Brazil.
And the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government has once again showed its vulnerability in Congress, failing to block the appointment of radical far-right politicians to the head of some of the most important lower house committees. And that could create plenty of hurdles for the administration going forward.
My name is Euan Marshall, deputy editor of the Brazilian Report and this is Explaining Brazil.
Euan Marshall: Standing committees are crucial to Brazil’s legislative process. Before they can be approved, the majority of bills or constitutional amendment proposals must pass through at least one committee. In some cases, the committees actually have the final say, and can enact laws without having to hold floor votes. As a result, controlling these committees gives political parties some serious agenda-setting powers in Congress. And joining us this week to discuss these committees is Isabela Cruz who covers politics and the judiciary for the Brazilian Report. Isabela, thanks for being here.
Isabela Cruz: My pleasure, Euan.
Euan Marshall: So, Isabela, parliaments around the world have standing committees so the reason that they’re important can be quite obvious for most political observers. But is there something that makes them particularly important in the Brazilian lawmaking process.
Isabela Cruz: Well, when we look at the lower house, there are 30 standing committees, and they play a central role in debating proposals related to their thematic areas before these bills are subjected to floor votes. And in some cases, as you said, the committee’s decision can even bypass the need for floor votes. What’s more, committees can hold public hearings and summon cabinet ministers to provide clarifications about all sorts of issues, something that the lower house sought to do extensively last year as a way of damaging the government. And standing committees have also gained more importance in deciding on earmarks from the federal budget. So they are really important in the legislative process and also have resources to manage. Within that, committee presidents have the power to decide on their agenda and decide who will be the reporter of given bills.
Euan Marshall: So, suffice to say, it’s a powerful position. So who decides who gets to preside over these committees? And you know as we mentioned at the top of the show some radical far-right names have been picked to lead some of these high-profile committees and why wasn’t the Lula government able to block that?
Isabela Cruz: Well, committees are dishes out in accordance with the size of each party’s bench. In simple terms the biggest party in the lower house gets first pick. There are 513 seats in the house and 20 parties represented. The Liberal Party, of our right former president Jair Bolsonaro, has 96 seats in the house, while Lula’s Workers’ Party comes in second. So nobody expected an excellent vote for the government when it came to dishing out committees. But the names chosen by the Liberal Party could have been a bit more moderate. When Bolsonaro joined the party in 2021, hundreds of extreme right politicians came along with him.
But there are wings in the Liberal Party that would be more open to dialogue with the municipal elections this year, the party wants to gain visibility with its most radical members. Furthermore, recent operations by the Federal Police against members of the Liberal Party haven’t exactly facilitated dialogue between the government and the party.
Euan Marshall: And, Isabela, you mentioned Lula’s Workers’ Party there. What committees were they left with?
Isabela Cruz: Its biggest achievement was getting the Health Committee, which will have the largest budget of all committees this year, receiving R$4.5 billion from so-called committee earmarks. The Workers’ Party will also get to lead the Financial Oversight and Control Committee, which monitors the use of the entire federal budget and is currently led by a pro-Bolsonaro congresswoman.
Euan Marshall: And regarding those committees that are in the hands of opposition radicals, could you give us some examples of those and maybe tell us a little bit about what the government can do in this situation?
Isabela Cruz: First, government lawmakers hope that in the Education Committee, for example, the other members of the committee can overcome any difficulties created by its president, Congressman Nicolas Ferreira. Just to give you an idea, Ferreira was the most voted House member in 2022 and has made headlines several times since for his reactionary behavior. Last year, he said he had never researched the topic. During the pandemic, he campaigned against vaccination. Regarding what the government can do to limit the power of Sereira and company, it can use its power of obstruction and for its priority bills, it can call for so-called emergency regimes, where these proposals bypass committees and go straight to floor votes. The House Speaker, Arthur Lira, is a fan of that tool, and he is the one that decides the voting agenda for the full House. But of course, in this context, Lula’s dependence on Lira is expected to grow. They are already negotiating the terms of this cooperation and it won’t come cheap for Lula. The government is likely to help LIDA elect a successor as House Speaker next year and not harm his interest in municipal elections later on in 2024.
Euan Marshall: Interesting. Yeah, so, I mean, these standing committees have become a bit of a headache for the government, right? I mean, it’s going to have a lot of work to do in relation to them this year, I imagine.
Isabela Cruz: Yeah, it looks that way. One of the best indications of that is the Constitution and Justice Committee, which will be presided over by the right-wing radical Carolina de Toni. This committee is particularly important because its members analyze all proposals before they go to a making its head quite powerful indeed. But it was hardly a surprise to have an opponent in that role this year. In 2023, as the House’s two biggest parties, the Workers’ Party and the Liberal Party, made a deal with the Speaker to take turns presiding over the Constitution and Justice Committee. The Workers’ Party had the seat last year, and now it’s the opposition’s turn. And to be honest, it’s not the worst timing in the world for the government. We are going to have municipal elections in the second half of the year and work in the House always wins down somewhat as the campaign gets closer.
Euan Marshall: And speaking of that Constitution and Justice Committee, it held its first session on Tuesday, didn’t it? How did that go?
Isabela Cruz: Not surprisingly, Carolina de Toni filled the committee agenda with bills to increase punishment for various types of crimes, an important topic for Bolsonaro. But the government base managed to reverse the order of priorities. Thus, the debates ended up being about projects such as broadcasting concessions and public policies for children. Duttoni promises to preside over the committee with balance and according to the rules. Last year, committees controlled by Bolsonaro took decisions even outside of their institutional roles in order to attack the government. Duttoni has already stated that the committee may discuss amnesties for those convicted for last year’s Brasilia riots, potentially including former president Bolsonaro, among the names benefiting from such a measure, as he is under suspicion of having orchestrated an attempt coup.
Euan Marshall: Ok, so that’s something for us to keep an eye on throughout the year. Isabela, thanks very much for joining us today.
Isabela Cruz: Thank you, see you soon.
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Transcribed with Cockatoo
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