Bolsonaro Administration Suffers Triple Defeat: in Federal Chamber, Senate, and Supreme Court

By Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro saw three of his main administration measures threatened on Wednesday, June 12th. In the Senate, the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) approved bills to revoke the arms decree.

Meanwhile, at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), a majority of Justices decided to suspend at least part of Bolsonaro’s decree that provides for the extinction of collective bodies such as councils of the federal public administration.

He also lost out on his pension reform proposal. The rapporteur of the PEC in the Chamber, Deputy Samuel Moreira, withdrew states and municipalities from his draft, thereby curtailing the savings forecast by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes.

The Senate’s CCJ approved the bills that cancel the weapons decree signed by the president. Now, the topic is to be discussed in the full Senate plenary and the Chamber of Deputies.

In May, President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree easing the carrying of firearms for a group of 19 professional categories, including politicians, truck drivers and rural residents.

Rodrigo Maia, president of the Chamber of Deputies, declared that the pension reform report would not include rules for civil servants in States and Municipalities.

According to the original proposal sent to Congress, the new rules for federal civil servants would also apply to states and municipalities – in the case of state police officers and firefighters, and the requirements would be linked to those of the armed forces. This change represents a reduction of R$330 (US$85) billion of projected savings over ten years for the States and R$170.8 billion for the Municipalities.