The (Attorney General of the Union) of the president’s government () published an opinion this Monday (30) in which it advises ministries to maintain a blockade of R$4.2 billion in parliamentary amendments.
The document serves to establish rules and provide legal support to department technicians, following the decisions of the minister and the (Supreme Federal Court).
On the eve of the opinion, Dino authorized the execution of part of the funds — in this case, only those committed by the commission until December 23 of this year, when the minister took the decision to block the transfers, and those already deposited in municipal health funds until December 10 January 2025.
The AGU assessment is now even more restrictive. According to the opinion, ministries should not pay even these commitments released by Dino on Sunday.
“Notwithstanding reasonable doubt, it appears, at this moment, prudent to adopt the safest interpretation of the decision, in the sense that, at least until further judicial clarification, the commitments of the committee amendments are not subject to reservations (… ), even if prior to 12/23/2024 and even if intended for health”, says text published by AGU.
In the document, the ministry lists an argument to support “reasonable doubt”. If, on the one hand, the minister declared null the letter sent by the Chamber of Deputies, in which leaders assume ownership of amendments and ask for their release, on the other hand, he released committed amendments until December 23rd.
“There is, therefore, reasonable doubt as to whether or not this reservation reaches the committee amendments object of Letter No. 1.4335.458/2024 [da Câmara dos Deputado]”, says the text.
Later, the AGU filed a request for clarification and reconsideration of part of Dino’s decision, asking the minister to release all committed committee amendments by December 23, 2024.
Also on Monday, the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, the ministry responsible for political articulation, announced that R$1.7 billion of the blocked amount had been committed by the 23rd.
Of this total, R$441 million went to Tourism, R$335.1 million to Cities, R$330.2 million to Health, R$307.9 million to Sports, R$278.2 million to Integration and R$ 83.2 million for Agriculture.
Despite being committed, the resources should not be paid, according to government members, given the new interpretation of the AGU. Unless Dino reviews part of his decision.
Behind the scenes, party leaders claim that there is coordinated action between Dino, who was Lula’s minister, and the government to aggressively reduce the weight of parliamentary amendments in the federal budget.
Congress is on recess and will only return to work in February, when retaliation may occur in votes of interest to the government
The execution of so-called commission amendments (those that, in theory, should be decided by thematic committees of the Chamber and Senate) has placed the STF and Congress on opposite sides.
Under the argument that these amendments, which total almost R$5 billion, were not in fact decided by the commissions, but rather by party leaders, Dino ordered the blocking of their execution, also pointing out the model’s lack of transparency.
The measure generated a reaction from parliamentarians, which led to an attempt at an agreement between the government, STF and Congress, in a scenario that still remains undefined.
Parliamentary amendments are today the main mechanism for action by deputies and senators and have also been the target of several suspicions of corruption.
Health tax amendments may also be committed until the end of the year. This point was a concern for the federal government, which had the resources to meet the health minimum.
The exceptions allowed by the minister occurred after the amendments were made.
Despite the partial release, the minister remained critical of the issue. “When examining the petitions presented by the Chamber of Deputies on December 27th, at 7:50 pm, I see the culmination of a shambles regarding the budget process — certainly unprecedented,” he wrote.
According to him, “the need for the (Federal Police) for their determination becomes clearer every day.” In the decision, the minister also states that “due budgetary legal process does not allow for the ‘invention’ of types of amendment without normative support”.
Dino also ordered the Senate to respond, within ten working days, whether there was a request for committee amendments without the presentation of minutes and sponsors of the transfers.
The measure was taken after the Chamber cited, in response to the STF, last Friday (27), “strangeness” that only this House “is participating at this moment in institutional dialogue with the Supreme Court, “when the Senate of the Republic adopted a strictly identical rite”.
Dino said that such commands and prohibitions refer to committee amendments from the Chamber of Deputies and also the Federal Senate and that the decision was taken “in honor of the contradictory principle”.
Asked if she would speak about any topic of the decision, the Chamber’s presidential advisor only stated that the response must come from the Senate. The Senate advisor stated that the president
(-MG) will not talk about the subject, as he is on recess.
