Brazilian Senate Approves Reduction of Federal Administrative Structure

By Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Yesterday (May 28th), the Brazilian Senate approved the Provisional Measure (PM) promulgated in January by Jair Bolsonaro, which restructured the executive branch administration and reduced the number of ministries from 29 to 22.

This is a win for President Bolsonaro. One of his most important campaign promises was to downsize this structure.

The senators voted to maintain the changes to the PM made by the Chamber of Deputies, which transferred oversight of the Council for Financial Activities Control (Coaf) from the Ministry of Justice back to the Economy Ministry.

Last Monday (May 27th) the president’s spokesman, Otávio do Rêgo Barros, had already
stated that Bolsonaro would not veto the transfer.

When the Provisional Measure was issued, it transferred Coaf from the now-defunct Finance Ministry (currently part of the Economy Ministry) to the Ministry of Justice.

Coaf is an intelligence-gathering entity that acts to combat money laundering and financial fraud.

In a recent interview with GloboNews, Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro had stated that the council would be “better positioned” if it remained under his ministry. He argued that Coaf “tends to be overlooked” in the Economy Ministry, which has other priorities.

However, last Monday, Moro said that it would be “best” for Coaf to be maintained in his bailiwick, but that if this was impossible, we should “be patient.”

The PM of the administrative reform entered into effect on January 1st, but required
approval by Congress before next Monday (June 3rd) lest it expire and lose validity.

Since the senators maintained the text approved by the Chamber, the PM will now be forwarded to the president for his signature. If any changes had been made, the text would have been sent back for further deliberations by the Senate and the deadline would have passed.

The administration was in a rush to approve the PM because, if both houses of Congress did not vote in time, the Temer administrative structure would be reinstated, including a return to having 29 cabinet ministers.

Facing this threat, President Bolsonaro sent a letter to Senate President Davi Alcolumbre (DEM-AP), requesting the senators to approve a text identical to the one sent it by the Chamber.

According to Bolsonaro, Congress preserved more than 95 percent of the original content of the Provisional Measure.