This week, the federal government and the National Congress came together to approve the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) project for 2026, one of the new features being one worth R$13 billion, which must be paid up to three months before the elections.
Despite the recent climate of tension between the Executive and Legislative branches, experts consulted by CNN assess that the relatively quick approval of the LDO in Congress represents a certain truce “for convenience” between the two Powers.
Contrary to previous years, in which the guidelines for the Budget Just a few days before the Legislative recess, this year’s text received a favorable opinion in the first week of December.
In the opinion of the political scientist Leandro Gabiatitaking into account that 2026 is an election year, the rapid approval of the guidelines that will guide next year’s Budget was “useful” for both the Palácio do Planalto and the Parliament.
“The approval of the Budget is due to mutual convenience. It is in the government’s interest to have the Budget approved this year to start the election year and now be able to use the resources, but the logic is repeated on the parliamentarians’ side. It is positive for them to start the election year with an amendments”, he says.
Specialist in political and government consultancy, Gabiati recalls that the calendar of amendments proposed by the LDO rapporteur, deputy Gervásio Maia (PSB-PB), aims to supply congressmen’s electoral bases months before the population goes to the polls.
For him, electoral motivation explains the approval of the LDO “in a few weeks”. He also considers that the LOA (Annual Budget Law), the Budget itself, must also be approved before the recess.
Relationship between Congress and Planalto should not improve
However, despite the effort to pass the text, Gabiati assesses that the relationship between Planalto and Congress should not return to the way it was before, with the presidents of the Houses maintaining only a “basic and minimum necessary dialogue” with the federal government, which should not be able to count on the goodwill of parliamentarians in 2026.
Like this Gabiati, political scientist and professor at Uerj (State University of Rio de Janeiro), Christian Lynchargues that the approval of the budget was a “truce”, and not a reconciliation. He assesses that the Executive and Legislative branches must remain distant and that there is no improvement trend on the horizon.
“The government and Congress remain distant, suspicious and competing for agenda and political space. The trend for 2026 is not one of improvement, but of controlled conflict: without institutional ruptures, but also without lasting alignment”, he points out Lynch.
The climate between the two Powers has been tense in the last month. In the Chamber, President Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) with the leader of the PT in the House, Lindbergh Farias (RJ), after the party criticized Hugo for his leadership of the PL Antifaction.
In the Senate, the relationship with the government was also strained. In contrast to the greater alignment of recent months, Casa Alta with the Planalto Palace. The main reason was that the Union’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, wanted a vacancy in the STF (Supreme Federal Court). The president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), named Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) for the position.
The political scientist and professor at UnB (University of Brasília), Ricardo Caldasalso believes that the relationship should not improve, but he states that the The balance of the rapid approval of the LDO — although of interest to the Legislature — was negative for the presidents of both Houses and for the Opposition to the Lula government.
“Alcolumbre could have turned the Messiah issue into a major national cause, but he simply let the matter calm down, he let the Budget be voted on”, he explains.
According to Caldas, in the Chamber, Hugo is in a “fragile moment” and could have used the LDO as a “bargaining chip” to regain his leadership. In the same scenario, the Opposition could have boycotted the vote on the text to guide that of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and those arrested for January 8th, which was not done.
“By approving the Budget, both in the Chamber and in the Senate, the Opposition loses a bargaining chip. They could boycott, they could hold back the votes. Apparently, this was lost and I think it will be difficult to recover this in December”, says the professor, who states that Congress will be emptied for the next few days, and should not pass major agendas that could affect the government.
