By MARCOS DE QUEIROZ GRILLO*

We are subject to the discretionary power of the National Congress and its demagogic and unconstitutional antics.

1.

The Brazilian government prepares its annual budget based on estimated revenues and fixed expenses. The budget is submitted for approval by the National Congress through an Annual Budget Bill (LOA). Revenues are estimated at R$2025 trillion for 5,8, with a primary surplus of R$15 billion expected. These figures were the result of adjustments made by the National Congress. The main adjustments were in revenue collection – inflation adjustment – ​​and the withdrawal of R$44,1 billion in court-ordered payments, based on STF case law.

The annual budget includes parliamentary amendments, a legacy of the 1988 Constitution, which returned to the National Congress the prerogative to amend the Annual Budget Bill, allowing deputies and senators to present amendments to direct resources to specific areas.

Currently, there are different types of parliamentary amendments:

(i) Individual Amendments (RP6): Presented by deputies and senators to meet specific demands of their electoral bases. They became mandatory (impositive) as of 2015. They include a value for the so-called “Pix amendments”, created by Constitutional Amendment 105/2019, which allow direct transfers to states and municipalities without being linked to specific projects. For 2025, R$19 billion was approved for deputies and R$5,5 billion for senators.

(ii) Amendments from State and Federal District Benches (RP2 and RP7): Presented collectively by parliamentarians from the same state or the Federal District, aiming to meet regional demands. They became mandatory in 2019. In 2025, the amount of R$14,3 billion was approved for such amendments.

(iii) Amendments from Standing Committees (RP8): Proposed by the standing committees of the Chamber of Deputies, the Federal Senate or joint committees, directed at specific areas of public policy; these are not mandatory. In 2025, the amount of R$11,5 billion was approved for amendments from standing committees.

2.

Since 2014 there has been a significant evolution in the values ​​of parliamentary amendments in the Brazilian federal budget as shown in the following table:

The legislative advance on the public budget

Types of Amendments (In 2025): Committee 11,5; State Benches 14,3; Individual (Deputies) 19,0; Individual (Senators) 5,5.

This significant increase reflects institutional and political changes that have expanded the power of the National Congress over the budget, resulting in a significant increase in parliamentary amendments over the last decade. The amount approved for 2025 was R$50,4 billion, an amount equivalent to the Federal Government's investment budget.

The graph shows that the largest increase in the value of parliamentary amendments occurred in the second year of Jair Bolsonaro's government (2020), when the amendments went from R$13,5 billion to R$35,9 billion (an increase of 165,92%). The mandarins in Congress realized the weakness and lack of principles of Jair Bolsonaro's government and tested its limits. They realized that they were completely weak. Then, Congress appropriated a significant part of the public budget, with total neglect by that government, which was already completely surrendered to the pressures and impositions of the legislature.

From then on, the legislative branch's voracity only increased, as the centrists and the far right continued to dominate the majority of Congress and impose increasingly higher amendment values ​​as a counterpart to the approval of the country's annual budget, among other laws essential to public administration. It became a party and almost all members of parliament began to benefit, including the progressives. Lula also had little capacity for resistance. The values ​​were already institutionalized.

All that remained was the courage of Minister Flavio Dino and the STF, who insisted on bringing transparency to the black boxes of amendment allocations. This issue of transparency has not yet been resolved. The “Pix amendments” (RP6 for special transfers), for example, allow direct transfers to states and municipalities without the need to specify in advance where or how the resources will be applied, which makes it difficult to track and monitor spending.

In 2012, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) considered the general rapporteur amendments (RP9), known as the “secret budget”, unconstitutional, precisely due to the lack of transparency in identifying the parliamentarians who benefited and in the allocation of resources.

3.

In August 2024, representatives of the Three Powers signed an agreement to improve transparency, traceability and efficiency in the execution of parliamentary amendments, seeking to mitigate problems related to the lack of clarity in the allocation and use of these resources, which should be done at the time of the 2025 budget.

However, it turns out that the rapporteur of the 2025 Budget, Deputy Ângelo Coronel, in his substitute bill, introduced wording that “hides” the names of the beneficiaries of the amendments – often popularly referred to as part of the “secret budget” – grouping them under an umbrella without identifying the names of the parliamentarians responsible. Although the STF has not yet formally ruled on this version, there are strong indications that, if this practice persists, the Court may once again block the release of these funds because it understands that the measure violates the principles of transparency and publicity in the budget.

In 2025, there was a significant reduction in the budget allocations of the Ministries of Science, Social Welfare and Education, which lost R$8,6 billion in relation to the bill submitted by the Government. In return, the resources that will be sent by parliamentarians to their preferred destinations were multiplied: Health, Sports, Agriculture, Tourism and Regional Integration and Development.

It is clear that the Lula government, just like that of Jair Bolsonaro, where it all began, continues to suffer vigorous harassment from the mandarins of the National Congress. And it seems that it has no alternative but to accept it, in exchange for governability. And the only possibility of reaction remains in the hands of the Supreme Federal Court. We are all waiting for the Supreme Federal Court's position on this unqualified provocation by the Budget Rapporteur.

We are subject to the discretionary power of the National Congress and its demagogic and unconstitutional antics. They consider themselves all-powerful because they continue to be able to deceive the Brazilian people with their sleight of hand. But we hope, with all our energy, that the Supreme Court will impose order on these shenanigans, even if this harms the relationship between the executive and legislative branches. So be it!

*Marcos de Queiroz Grillo He is an economist and has a master's degree in administration from UFRJ.

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