Former governor and Lula’s main advisor will run for Senate in his state; portfolio remains in the hands of Dilma Rousseff’s former minister
(PT) said goodbye this Thursday (April 2, 2026) from his position as chief minister of the Civil House alongside the president (PT), at Estação da Calçada, in Salvador. Costa will be succeeded by Miriam Belchior, current executive secretary of the department.
The ceremony marked the delivery of urban mobility and slope containment works by Novo PAC — and served as the stage for the official departure of the politician who commanded one of the federal government’s most strategic portfolios for 3 years and 3 months.
The place has personal significance for Costa: it is just a few meters from the hill where he was born, on the border between the neighborhoods of Liberdade and Calçada.
“This act is my last act as minister of the Civil House. When the day ends, the president signs my dismissal”said Costa. “It’s four kilometers from my house to the school where I studied. I walked and walked back, passing through here.”
ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN THE PLANALTO
Former governor of Bahia for 2 terms (2015-2022), Costa held a central position in the Lula government. In practice, almost all decisions that reached the president were first reviewed by the Civil House.
He shared with the then Minister of Finance, (PT), the position of the president’s main advisor.
Lula recognized the role of the ministry during the event. “The role of the Civil House is not always the role of sympathy. Most of the ministers who go to talk to the Civil House leave and complain to me that they were not treated well”these. “But we have never had the Civil House functioning with the capacity to present solutions like it does now.”
The minister was known among government technicians as one of the most active in the dispute over the federal budget. He played a central role in sensitive debates with congressmen, such as in articulating fiscal and tax issues. He defended, for example, the government’s dialogue with Congress in controversies such as the IOF.
On Tuesday (March 31, 2026), Costa used his last ministerial meeting to settle political accounts with government figures — and to charge the Minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication, Sidônio Palmeira, for the lack of dissemination of these results to the population.
“My question, Sidônio, is whether people are aware of this”said Costa, in a tone that participants described as public demand.
Here is the data presented by Costa:
- 26.5 million people emerged from hunger between 2023 and 2024; 8.7 million left poverty, and 3.1 million, extreme poverty;
- unemployment fell to 5.4% — the lowest rate in the historical series;
- the New PAC reached 80% of execution, with R$65.6 billion in transfers from the Union Budget, compared to R$7.5 billion in the previous government;
- In the areas of urban mobility, sanitation, slum upgrading, slopes and drainage, R$11.1 billion in financing was contracted, an increase of 46% compared to the previous period.
In recent months, it has gained political repercussions linked to Rui Costa. The connection comes from the period when he was governor of Bahia, when he created the CredCesta program, a benefits card for state employees.
Measures taken by Costa’s management, such as a decree that restricted the portability of payroll loans, expanded Banco Master’s exclusivity in payroll operations.
Costa claims that he did not participate in schemes. He recently questioned press coverage in an interview with GloboNews. He said that, former president of the Central Bank, he played a more relevant role in the case and that the media did not highlight this responsibility. This is Planalto’s strategy to counter criticism — partly formulated by Costa himself.
WHO IS MIRIAM BELCHIOR
Affiliated with PT since its foundation, she is a teacher, food engineer and public servant. She graduated from Unicamp and has a master’s degree in public administration from FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas).
Her political career began in Santo André, where she was secretary of Administration and then of Social Inclusion from 1997 to 2002. In 2007, she became executive secretary of the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) and, in 2010, she became general coordinator of the program.
She was once a minister. Between 2011 and 2015, he commanded the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management in the government (PT). From 2015 to 2016, he presided over Caixa Econômica Federal.
Since January 2023, he has held the executive secretariat of the Civil House. He also participated in the development of the Bolsa Família and Minha Casa Minha Vida programs.
“She was Minister of Planning, she works a lot, she is a competent technician”said Costa when announcing his successor.
Belchior inherits the portfolio amid a broad ministerial reform: 20 ministers leave the government to contest the October elections. Lula’s orientation is to complete what is in progress, without launching new programs.
Costa, in turn, will contest the elections. With a confirmed candidacy for the Senate in Bahia, he leads recent polls of voting intentions. It will be part of Lula’s strategy for 2026: expanding the base in Casa Alta.
