Understand the elections for the House and Senate commands – 01/28/2023 – Power

Federal deputies and senators take office this Wednesday (1st) and will decide the command of the National Congress for the next two years.

In the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) should be re-elected easily, since he has the support of an arc of parties that goes from the opposition to the situation. So far, only Chico Alencar (PSOL-RJ) has placed himself as a competitor, in a candidacy whose objective is only to mark a political position.

In the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) is also the favorite, but will face a more competitive candidacy, that of former minister Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), Bolsonarism’s last hope of keeping a relevant piece of power in Brasília after the defeat for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT).

Every two years, the Chamber and the Senate hold elections to change the respective Boards of Directors. There are 11 positions in dispute in each House: president, two vice presidents, four secretaries and four substitute secretaries. Voting is secret.

Commands of the House and Senate are among the most important functions of the Republic.

Understand in detail how this Wednesday’s (1st) elections work and what’s at stake.

How are House and Senate Presidents chosen? Every two years, the 513 federal deputies and the 81 senators meet to elect the presidency of the two Houses.

Voting is secret and the winner is the one who obtains the vote of at least the absolute majority in the Chamber, that is, 257 of the 513 deputies. In the Senate, according to the regiment, a majority of votes is required – if everyone attends, there are 41 of the 81 senators.

If none of the competitors manages to reach this level, a second round is held on the same day between the two that did better in the initial stage.

When does the election take place? This Wednesday (1st), both in the Chamber and in the Senate.

In the Chamber, the 513 elected deputies take office in the morning. At 4:30 pm, secret voting begins in electronic ballot boxes installed in booths inside the plenary.

The election will be chaired by Deputy Átila Lins (PSD-AM), the oldest and with the most legislatures among his colleagues.

In the Senate, the inauguration of the 27 senators will be at 3 pm. As senators have an eight-year term, twice as long as deputies, the House is renewed every four years. In an election, two-thirds of the seats are up for grabs. In another, a third.

In 2022, 27 of the 81 places were disputed.

The election for the command of the House will take place shortly after the inauguration.

Does the size of the parties influence this choice? In theory, yes, but as voting is secret, there may be betrayals, which has happened a few times in history.

In general, the candidate who gathers the formal support of the major parties tends to be the favorite and settle the bill. But there are no guarantees. In 2005, for example, the then outsider Severino Cavalcanti (PP-PE) overthrew the government candidate, Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh (PT-SP), and won the dispute in the second round by 300 votes to 195.

Does the federal government influence this choice? The federal government, if it decides to enter the dispute for real, tends to benefit the chosen candidate, although there are exceptions, as in 2005 in the case of Severino Cavalcanti.

Another important moment in which the Planalto Palace committed itself to the election —but was defeated— occurred in 2015. At the time, Arlindo Chinaglia (PT-SP) had the open support of President Dilma Rousseff, who appointed ministers to help him be elected.

The petista, however, was defeated in the first round by Eduardo Cunha (MDB-RJ), founder of the centrão in its current configuration, which had been a thorn in the side of the government since the previous year.

Cunha’s management was guided by the conflict with the Planalto and, less than a year after being elected, he gave the go-ahead for the continuation of the process that would result in Dilma’s impeachment.

The rule, however, is that the government manages to place its candidates in the commanding chairs of Congress.

In 2021, for example, an alliance between Jair Bolsonaro and Arthur Lira was essential for the Alagoas parliamentarian to win Baleia Rossi (MDB-SP), a candidate supported by the then mayor, Rodrigo Maia (RJ).

Who are the main names in the dispute? In the Chamber, Arthur Lira managed in less than two months to move from a position in which he was one of Bolsonaro’s main allies to being close to Lula.

He leads the centrão and has the support of both Bolsonaro’s PL and Lula’s PT.

Lira benefited from the government’s decision not to risk confronting him and, in case of defeat, to have an opponent in charge of the Chamber in the first year of Lula’s third term.

The left elected only a quarter of the 513 seats in the Chamber and would not get a large majority even with the support of MDB, PSD and União Brasil, center-right acronyms to whom Lula distributed ministries and other positions in exchange for a base in Congress.

Lira also made important gestures towards the PT, such as the public recognition of Lula’s victory on the night of the second round, the easy approval of the PEC that gave the new government budgetary breath and the reaction of condemnation of the coup vandals who destroyed the seat of the Three Powers on January 8.

So far, only Chico Alencar has run as a candidate against him. The PSOL is an ally of the Lula government and has only 12 of the 513 seats.

In the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco is also the favorite, but he has a more serious competitor ahead of him.

Former deputy and former minister of Bolsonaro, the elected senator Rogério Marinho is considered a parliamentarian with very good transit among his colleagues. He formally has the support of the PL, the PP and the Republicans.

Bolsonaristas have been campaigning on social media in their favor and against Pacheco, the politician most aligned with the government. Despite this, the current president of the Senate is still the favorite and must obtain the formal support of parties that gather a greater number of votes.

What is the power of a president of the House and Senate? The presidents of the Chamber and of the Senate are the third and fourth in the line of succession of the Presidency of the Republic, respectively.

As leaders of Congress, they have in their hands a power of decision that ranges from ascending the majority of congressmen to deciding on rites that can even lead to the impeachment of a President of the Republic.

It is up to the President of the Chamber, for example, to decide in a monocratic way whether an impeachment request against the Chief Executive should start processing.

Two presidents of the Republic have been impeached in history, Fernando Collor de Mello, in 1992, and Dilma Rousseff, in 2016.

The Presidents of the House and Senate also define which bills will be put to the vote, who should report them, in addition to a series of other decisions with legislative and administrative implications.

In 2019, for example, the then mayor, Rodrigo Maia, was a key player in approving the pension reform, which would not have been able to be approved without his political and legislative leadership.

The commanders of Congress also have the decision-making power around them on the application of billions of budget appropriations.

Are the February 1 elections only for the command of the House and Senate? No, there are ten other positions up for grabs in each House. There are two vice-presidencies, four secretaries and four substitutes. All these polls are also secret.

These positions are divided, in theory, between the largest parties, but agreements and formation of blocs could change the scenario. There are also examples of ballots that elected candidates who were launched separately, without formal support from their parties.

What is the role and importance of these positions on the Bureau? In general, each of these positions has a specific administrative function within Congress, such as dealing with international travel for parliamentarians, functional housing and others.

In practice, the functions are disputed by the political status of integrating the Mesa da Casa and, also, because they result in more advisers and additional to the funds to which each parliamentarian is entitled.

The Bureau of each House is also responsible for jointly taking the main administrative measures. The Board can, for example, hold in a drawer the opening of proceedings against parliamentarians for breach of parliamentary decorum.

What are the other command positions in Congress? There are 25 permanent thematic committees in the House (Lira should raise that number to accommodate allies) and 14 in the Senate. It is through them that the projects begin to process. It is also in the commissions that most public hearings are held and that, at times, ministers of state may be summoned to give explanations.

These commissions are divided among the parties according to the size of each one, and it is possible to form blocks between them.

The most important commission is the CCJ, for the Constitution of Justice.

Can a Speaker of the House and Senate be removed from office before the end of their term? Yes. In the Chamber, for example, Severino Cavalcanti (2005) and Eduardo Cunha (2016) did not complete their terms.

The first resigned from office and mandate to escape impeachment on suspicion that he was charging a monthly fee from a House supplier.

The second was removed from office and mandate by the Federal Supreme Court in the midst of Lava Jato investigations. Later, he had his mandate revoked by his colleagues.

In the Senate, Jader Barbalho (2001) and Renan Calheiros (2007) also resigned as head of the House amid corruption scandals involving their names.