Jair Bolsonaro has never been safer from impeachment

Last week, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes issued a public warning to President Jair Bolsonaro. Speaking to the press, the embattled cabinet minister said some of the head of state’s advisors are pushing the president into the “impeachment zone” by demanding more public spending. 

While certainly strong-worded, the only reason Mr. Guedes felt within his rights to issue such a warning is that impeachment is not on the table for Mr. Bolsonaro. Three and a half months after political pundits traded predictions on how long the president would last in office — after former Justice Minister Sergio Moro accused him of illegally meddling with the Federal Police for personal benefit — ousting Mr. Bolsonaro seems to be a very remote possibility indeed.

That isn’t for a lack of justifications, either. In the months following Mr. Moro’s resignation, the number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil has risen uncontrollably, with almost 110,000 fatal victims of Covid-19 at the time of publication. In Brazil and abroad, Jair Bolsonaro’s denialism about the severity of the pandemic has been elected as the main reason for the country’s botched coronavirus response. 

Major television and print media have run editorials affirming that the president’s behavior is in violation of the Constitution, yet such criticism has had no practical consequences.

Beyond claims of negligence concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, there are also criminal investigations surrounding President Bolsonaro and his sons. The eldest Bolsonaro child, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, is suspected of having misused government funds when he was a state lawmaker, taking cuts from his staffers’ paychecks. The alleged operator of this corruption scheme and long-time friend of the Bolsonaros, Fabricio Queiroz, is currently on house arrest.

Rio de...