Since the end of the military dictatorship 29 politicians have been elected to hold two of the most important positions of the Republic for a period, the Presidencies of and.
Most of the two years of office, some for more than once, and others had the period shortened due to corruption scandals.
The new election scheduled for this Saturday (1st) has as favorites (Republicans-PB) for the succession of (PP-AL) in the House and (União Brasil-AP) for that of (PSD-MG) in the Senate.
They pass through the pen of these politicians from the most very administrative acts of each house to decisions with the potential to affect the destination of the country.
See, at seven points, the power concentrated in the hands of the presidents of the House and Senate:
1 – Succession line
In the absence of the President of the Republic and the deputy, the presidents of the House and Senate are, in that order, those responsible for provisionally assuming the command of the country.
This occurs in cases of medical removal and trips of the president and the vice, among other situations.
In 2019, for example, the then -mayor interimly assumed the country’s command due to simultaneous trips from Jair Bolsonaro to the United States and his deputy, Hamilton Mourão, to China. Also in 2019, then-Senate President David Alcolumbre sat in the most important chair of the Republic because of simultaneous trips abroad of Bolsonaro, Mourão and Maia.
If there is a vacancy of the position of President of the Republic and his deputy in the last two years of the mandate, it is up to Congress to hold an indirect election for the choice of new names. During this period, the mayor exercises the command of the nation.
This scenario never occurred after the country’s redemocratization, but in 2017 it came very close to becoming a reality.
Amid the impact of the revelation of then President Michel Temer (MDB) even considered the resignation, according to allies, and was the target of two complaints from the Attorney General’s Office.
As there was no deputy – Estemer was deputy of and assumed power after the impeachment of the petista – if he left the position would take the vacancy the then mayor, Rodrigo Maia, until indirect election was held by Congress.
2 – Impeachment
The mayor has the power to decide monocratically if requests for impeachment from presidents of the Republic will have progress or not.
This has occurred twice in history, since redemocratization: with, in 1992, and with, in 2016. In the latter, the then mayor, Eduardo Cunha (MDB), not only broke out the process but he worked decisively for the petista to lose the position.
3 – Project vote
Strictly speaking, it is up to the presidents of the House and Senate to define which projects will be voted in plenary and when. Although usually this voting agenda is defined with party leaders, the final word is always that of the president of each house.
In addition, they conduct sessions and have regimental mechanisms that may influence or not the issues.
An example occurs when a president of one of the two houses realizes that a particular project of interest is in danger of being defeated. Usually in these cases he ends the session, postponing the outcome so that he can gather more support for the theme.
In addition, the president of the Senate may return to the government, fully or in part, provisional measures. In 2019, for example, David Alcolumbre, annulling the act of the executive in this regard.
4 – Reports, administrative acts and investigations
The deputy or senator who runs one of the two houses is also responsible for choosing parliamentarians who will report certain topics and several of those who will exercise prominent posts.
With this, he can empower allies and retaliate opponents.
The presidents of Chamber and Senate also command the so-called Directors, collegiate composed of seven parliamentarians who are responsible for dictating all administrative rules of the House, such as advisor management, housing assistance concession and diplomatic passport issuance.
Congress commanders also have the power to dictate the course of investigations, including those that reach parliamentarians.
One of the most exemplary cases is that of federal deputy Wilson Santiago, who in 2019 was suspended by order of the investigations of embezzlement of public sums of works against drought in the backlands of Paraíba.
The plenary of the Chamber of the Court on the grounds that it was an internal issue to be resolved by the Ethics Council.
The lawsuit, however, by the Board of Directors commanded by Arthur Lira and never arrived at the Council.
The same dynamic applies to the installation of CPIs (parliamentary commissions of inquiry).
The president of the Senate, who accumulates the presidency of Congress, has the power to define the dates and summon sessions for veto analysis made by the President of the Republic to projects approved by the congressmen.
Depending on the relationship of the parliamentarian with the government, these sessions may be frequent or not. For the government, it is always better that they are delayed to reduce the risk of presidential vetoes to be overthrown.
6 – Influence on government
By defining voting agenda, influencing the base of support and determine the power of decisions that affect the daily life of the executive, the mayor and Senate exert natural influence on the Planalto Palace and ministers.
In Bolsonaro’s management, for example, the effective articulation of the governing base in Congress was exercised by Arthur Lira.
In the Dilma government, the then Minister of Education, Cid Gomes, lost office in 2015 after.
7 – Amendments
Em 2024, .
Each of the 594 congressmen each year can direct these budget funds to works and investments in their electoral strongholds. Although a part of this amount (individual amendments) is equitably distributed and has mandatory execution, another part does not follow these rules.
The so -called commission amendments are divided by the congressional summit between some congressmen, and the presidents of the House and Senate play a major role in this apportionment.