Bolsonaro tries to create a coalition. Will he succeed?

Over the past week, President Jair Bolsonaro has ramped up his verbal attacks on House Speaker Rodrigo Maia. Speaking to CNN Brasil, Mr. Bolsonaro said the speaker is setting a “fiscal time bomb” to ruin the economy, destroy his administration, and oust him from the presidency. The crisis gained a new chapter on Sunday, when the president attended a quasi-putschist rally and claimed “there is no more room for negotiations” with Congress.

However, at the same time, President Bolsonaro is negotiating more than ever. In a desperate attempt to gain some parliamentary support to block bills to which the government is opposed — as well as survive a potential impeachment process — Mr. Bolsonaro is in talks with small center-right parties and could be about to propose a major cabinet reshuffle. 

Last week, the lower house passed a plan to give Brazilian states no-strings-attached financial aid during the pandemic. Despite the government’s staunch opposition to the bill, it was approved with an overwhelming majority, showing just how ineffective his administration has been in whipping Congress votes. One Bolsonaro-supporting congressman told The Brazilian Report that government whips are often kept in the dark about the voting agenda for any given day. “We have to...