{"id":96893,"date":"2025-12-15T10:58:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/?p=96893"},"modified":"2025-12-15T10:58:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:58:39","slug":"congress-enters-decisive-voting-week-amid-institutional-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/congress-enters-decisive-voting-week-amid-institutional-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress enters decisive voting week amid institutional crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Agenda includes impeachment rules for Supreme Court justices and sentencing bill; tensions rose with earmarks probe<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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12\/15\/202<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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The final week of votes in Congress this year features a packed agenda of sensitive issues, including the sentencing bill in the Senate, the expulsion of Federal Deputy\u00a0Alexandre Ramagem<\/strong>\u00a0(Liberal Party, PL, Rio de Janeiro), who fled to the U.S., and the 2026 budget law, against a backdrop of escalating institutional crisis. Tensions and distrust among the branches of government have intensified amid advancing investigations at the\u00a0Federal Supreme Court into alleged misuse of parliamentary earmarks<\/a>\u00a0and the approach of an election year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the words of a seasoned lawmaker, the prevailing mood in Bras\u00edlia is one of \u201cuncertainty, insecurity and unpredictability,\u201d making it difficult to foresee what may happen even over the course of a month. On Friday (12), the Federal Police\u2019s Transparency operation, which targeted a staffer of the Chamber of Deputies,\u00a0Mari\u00e2ngela Fialek<\/strong>, known as Tuca, prompted Chamber Speaker\u00a0Hugo Motta<\/strong>\u00a0(Republicans of Para\u00edba) to call an emergency meeting with party leaders to discuss a joint response to the police action. Many lawmakers had already returned to their home states and had to come back to the federal capital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Motta issued a statement defending the former staffer, stressing that he respects Supreme Court decisions, but that \u201ca careful and correct reading\u201d of Justice\u00a0Fl\u00e1vio Dino\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0ruling \u201cdoes not point to any act of misuse of public funds.\u201d \u201cNone. Any potential misuse, it bears repeating, must be properly investigated,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The operation deepened turbulence between the Chamber and the Supreme Court, as dozens of Federal Police agents circulated through the building to execute search-and-seizure warrants in offices where the staffer worked. Relations had already been strained after the Court annulled\u00a0a plenary session<\/a>\u00a0that kept Federal Deputy\u00a0Carla Zambelli<\/strong>\u00a0in office, contrary to a court order. In response, also on Friday (12) the Supreme Court\u2019s First Panel upheld a preliminary injunction by Justice\u00a0Alexandre de Moraes<\/strong>\u00a0ordering the loss of Zambelli\u2019s mandate. On Sunday (14), Motta scheduled a meeting with the Chamber\u2019s legal team to consult on the case. Later that afternoon, the Chamber released a statement saying Zambelli had resigned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Before the crisis escalated, the Chamber\u2019s agenda, under a special voting schedule, included the removals of Ramagem and of Deputy\u00a0Eduardo Bolsonaro\u00a0<\/strong>(PL of S\u00e3o Paulo), who moved to the U.S. in March and from there\u00a0lobbied in favor of Donald Trump\u2019s tariff hikes<\/a>. There are doubts, however, in both cases. Regarding Ramagem, since the Supreme Court voided the lawmakers\u2019 decision to shield Zambelli, there is uncertainty over whether Motta will submit the case to the plenary. As for Eduardo, the Trump administration\u2019s withdrawal of Magnitsky Act sanctions imposed on Moraes could weigh in his favor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In parallel, Motta had signaled to the presidential palace the possibility of putting to a vote a proposed\u00a0constitutional amendment on public security,<\/a>\u00a0as well as a bill to cut tax incentives, reported by Deputy\u00a0Aguinaldo Ribeiro<\/strong>\u00a0(Progressives Party, PP, Para\u00edba). But as the Chamber speaker\u2019s relationship with the Workers\u2019 Party (PT) has deteriorated, especially after Sunday\u2019s protests (14) against passage of the sentencing bill, the most likely outcome is that this measure, crucial to the Finance Ministry, will be postponed to 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lawmakers are also expected to consider the anti-gang bill,\u00a0which returned from the Senate<\/a>. On the economic front, there is anticipation around a vote on the complementary bill regulating the tax reform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another factor fueling the crisis,\u00a0the bill that reduces sentences for those convicted over the January 8<\/a>\u00a0attacks, which benefits former President\u00a0Jair Bolsonaro<\/strong>\u00a0(PL), is set to be voted on in the Senate plenary on Wednesday (17). Resistance among influential senators persists, and the impact of street pressure against the proposal on lawmakers remains to be seen. Senator\u00a0Renan Calheiros\u00a0<\/strong>(Brazilian Democratic Movement, MDB, Alagoas) has already told people close to him that he intends to deliver a forceful speech opposing the measure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If confirmed, Senate consideration of the sentencing bill is part of a broad behind-the-scenes agreement involving the leaderships of the Chamber and the Senate, and factions within the Supreme Court. The talks excluded the presidential palace, Senate leaders, and the PT, which said they were surprised by the Chamber\u2019s vote on the bill early last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One element of the deal was Supreme Court acquiescence to the sentencing text, reported by Federal Deputy\u00a0Paulinho da For\u00e7a\u00a0<\/strong>(Solidarity of S\u00e3o Paulo), who has good communication channels with the justices.\u00a0Valor<\/strong>\u00a0learned that some factions within the court viewed the final text as \u201cmathematically\u201d insignificant. For example, the Supreme Court\u2019s understanding is that Bolsonaro\u2019s sentence progression could be reviewed starting at three and a half years. Current law requires four and a half years, based on a sentence of 27 years and three months in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another item in the agreement involved the Supreme Court\u00a0stepping back from a preliminary decision<\/a>\u00a0by Justice\u00a0Gilmar Mendes<\/strong>\u00a0that limited to the Office of the Prosecutor General (PGR) the authority to seek impeachment of Court members. On December 10, Justice Mendes granted a request by the Senate\u2019s legal office to that effect. On the other hand, senators reached an agreement in the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) to propose an update to the rule within six months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another commitment, however, was allegedly breached by the Chamber\u2019s plenary: the removal of Federal Deputy\u00a0Carla Zambelli.<\/strong>\u00a0In May, the Supreme Court\u2019s First Panel sentenced her to 10 years in prison, initially in a closed regime, for hacking systems and tampering with documents of the National Justice Council (CNJ). The same ruling ordered the loss of her mandate. As lawmakers failed to comply with the court order, the Supreme Court annulled the Chamber\u2019s plenary decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the same time, it is worth recalling that it was precisely the crisis surrounding parliamentary earmarks, stemming from Justice Dino\u2019s decisions at the end of 2024 imposing strict rules on the execution of funds, that delayed the vote on the 2025 budget law. The rapporteur was Senator\u00a0\u00c2ngelo Coronel\u00a0<\/strong>(Social Democratic Party, PSD, Bahia), who publicly criticized Dino\u2019s decisions. The proposal was only voted on in March, after an understanding brokered by Institutional Relations Minister\u00a0Gleisi Hoffmann<\/strong>, who had just taken office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Friday\u2019s Federal Police operation targeted earmarks directly by focusing on Tuca, the congressional aide, whom the Supreme Court identifies as allegedly responsible for the \u201corganization and distribution of resources\u201d from parliamentary earmarks \u201clinked to the secret budget for several years.\u201d The decision adds that she \u201csupposedly\u201d acted under direct orders from the former leadership of the Chamber, citing that the post was held by Federal Deputy\u00a0Arthur Lira<\/strong>\u00a0(PP of Alagoas), while noting that this fact \u201cis still under investigation.\u201d Through his press office, Lira emphasized that he is not a target of the probe and that Tuca is no longer his aide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In addition, behind the scenes, Lira was angered by the decision to keep in office his rival, Federal Deputy\u00a0Glauber Braga<\/strong>\u00a0(Socialism and Freedom Party, PSOL, Rio de Janeiro), who received a six-month suspension for breach of decorum. Braga appears, along with other lawmakers, as one of the whistleblowers to the Supreme Court in the alleged secret budget scheme.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite the succession of crises, the rapporteur of the 2026 Annual Budget Law (LOA), Federal Deputy\u00a0Isnaldo Bulh\u00f5es<\/strong>\u00a0(MDB of Alagoas), told\u00a0Valor<\/strong>\u00a0he sees no crisis scenario in Congress that could hinder next week\u2019s vote. \u201cEverything is fine with the budget, there is nothing to contaminate the vote,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Along the same lines, the chairman of the Joint Budget Committee (CMO), Senator\u00a0Efraim Filho<\/strong>\u00a0(Brazil Union of Para\u00edba), dismisses the idea that the police operation could prevent the vote. In his view, the\u00a0schedule devised for earmark payments<\/a>\u00a0reinforced \u201crules on transparency, predictability and traceability of funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

*By\u00a0Andrea Jub\u00e9\u00a0and\u00a0Murillo Camarotto\u00a0\u2014 Bras\u00edlia<\/p>\n

Source: Valor International<\/p>\n

https:\/\/valorinternational.globo.com\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Agenda includes impeachment rules for Supreme Court justices and sentencing bill; tensions rose with earmarks probe 12\/15\/202 The final week of votes in Congress this year features a packed agenda of sensitive issues, including the sentencing bill in the Senate, the expulsion of Federal Deputy\u00a0Alexandre Ramagem\u00a0(Liberal Party, PL, Rio de Janeiro), who fled to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8106],"tags":[9520,26642],"class_list":["post-96893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-murray-news","tag-congress","tag-institutional-crisis"],"yoast_head":"\nCongress enters decisive voting week amid institutional crisis - Murray Advogados<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/congress-enters-decisive-voting-week-amid-institutional-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congress enters decisive voting week amid institutional crisis - Murray Advogados\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Agenda includes impeachment rules for Supreme Court justices and sentencing bill; 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