The president (PT) made official this Thursday (20) the nomination for the vacancy of the (Supreme Federal Court) opened with the departure of the minister. The decision, made up of ministers, and, and also the president of, (-AP).
Lula met with Messias this morning at Palácio da Alvorada, before embarking on an agenda in São Paulo. From there, this Friday, he will travel to South Africa, to participate in the G20 Leaders Summit.
Lula’s nomination will still need to be voted on in the Senate, where there is likely to be resistance. The president also ignored calls for office and expanded racial diversity on the court. Today, she is the only minister at the court — which has ten magistrates, waiting for Barroso’s replacement to fill the last vacancy.
Head of the (Attorney General of the Union), Messias was considered the favorite for the position since the announcement of Barroso’s retirement, due to his proximity to the president. The trio of STF ministers and the Senate leadership, however, of the senator (-MG), who is a lawyer.
the president told allies that he would start a new round of talks to make the choice of Messiah official. to inform you of your decision.
Messias is considered progressive and is not affiliated with the PT. Evangelical, he was Lula with the religious group — the former president ().
Attorney of the National Treasury since 2007, he was also a legal consultant for the ministries of Education and Science, Technology and Innovation, under the command of Aloizio Mercadante, and was also secretary of Regulation and Supervision of Higher Education. He gained confidence through the work he started as a legal consultant for ministries.
During the Dilma government, he was deputy head of Legal Affairs at the Civil House — a role that made him known nationally as “Bessias”, in the 2016 leak of a Lava Jato wiretap, authorized by the then judge Moro. Despite there being no irregularities in the former assistant’s conduct, the audio leak recalls one of the moments of greatest rejection of the PT governments.
During the Bolsonaro government, Messias served as chief of staff for Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), current leader of the government in the Senate.
Until then, without much proximity to Lula, Messias began to gain recognition from the president during the creation of the government. In the role of legal coordinator of the transition, he worked on drafting decrees restructuring the Esplanada, including defining the Budget for 2023.
The name of Messias to the STF had already been mentioned at the time of Rosa Weber’s retirement from the court, in 2023. However, the position ended up going to the then Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino. In the first year of the government, Lula described Messias as efficient and discreet in office, with a fuss-free performance, to the point of considering him for the STF.
Despite not having been chosen for the Supreme Court at that time, he grew up in the vacuum left with Dino’s departure from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to the STF. Messias became Lula’s main legal advisor and was called upon to give his opinion, including on political issues.
The Senate must now debate and vote on the president’s nomination, and the government will have to deal with the frustration of senators’ expectations that Pacheco, former president of the House, would be chosen. However, the PT member’s plan is to launch the senator in the race for Government of Minas Gerais in 2026, to have a strong platform in the second largest electoral college in the country.
His reappointment to command of the (Attorney General’s Office) by 45 votes to 26, in , was interpreted by STF ministers and government, centrão and opposition senators in the Senate.
Despite this, members of the government minimized the score, stating that the result shows the current situation in the Senate, with established votes from the opposition and government blocs, and that Lula is already aware of the difficulties that Messias will face. They argue, however, that now with the official nomination, the dialogue process will begin with the senators to ensure approval of the AGU’s name.
“There was a strong group of opposition to him [Gonet] because he made the complaint to the former President of the Republic. In the case of Messiah, I don’t see him at odds with any segment here within the Senate”, stated Jaques.
A wing of STF ministers also sought to convince Lula to choose Pacheco, with whom they maintain a good relationship. Moraes, for example, usually has dinner with the senator and Alcolumbre every week. In October, the president received Gilmar, Moraes, Dino, Cristiano Zanin and minister Ricardo Lewandowski (Justice) at Palácio da Alvorada to discuss Barroso’s succession.
Gilmar even announced in August that his candidate for the Supreme Court seat was Pacheco. “The court needs courageous and legally prepared people and Senator Pacheco is our candidate. The STF is a game for adults,” he told .
Lula, however, opted for a closer ally. The president has praised the combativeness and loyalty of the AGU holder, saying that Messias is ripe for the role. PT members also raise the possibility that Pacheco will be nominated in a future vacancy, in the event of the president’s re-election, which would make the senator’s participation in the Minas Gerais electoral campaign more important.
In addition to Pacheco, another person mentioned for the position of minister of the Supreme Court was Bruno Dantas, currently minister of the TCU (Federal Audit Court), as he has a good track record in the Senate and the STF.
The chances of appointing a minister by . Lula’s allies claimed that he had already chosen women for positions in the (Superior Court of Justice) and STM (Superior Military Court) in recent months.
In addition to Cármen, only two other women have joined the court in its 134-year history: Rosa Weber and Ellen Gracie, named by and , respectively. All three are white.
leaving the presidency of the Supreme Court with the minister . The minister could still remain in office until 2033, when he would turn 75, the maximum age allowed, but he chose to leave office a few days after his announcement.
