The Lula administration’s waning influence over Congress

The numbers seem to indicate that the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government has lost influence over the congressional agenda. In 2023, the first year of Lula’s third non-consecutive term, the proportion of approved bills sponsored by the president dropped, and more provisional decrees failed to be confirmed by Congress than in any year since 1995.

Researcher Joyce Luz of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj) showed that only 16 percent of Lula’s provisional decrees were approved by Congress in the first 11 months of last year, compared to 23 percent in the early stages of the Jair Bolsonaro administration and rates close to 70 percent in Lula’s first terms (2003-2010).

Provisional decrees issued by the president have the force of law, but must be voted on by Congress within 120 days, after which they expire.

Similarly, a recent survey showed that in 2023, more of Lula’s provisional decrees failed than were approved — a rare occurrence — and by a larger margin. In both 2019 and 2020, about half of Jair Bolsonaro’s provisional decrees expired before Congress approved them into law. 

In Lula’s case, however, 74 percent of the provisional decrees expired by the end of the year.

Finally, another study shows that only 24 percent of bills approved by Congress in 2023 were submitted by the Executive branch, the lowest percentage since 2018. This means that more legislation was drafted by lawmakers themselves.

Lawmakers’...