Government tries to block amendments, but Centrão pressures to anticipate transfers

The Mixed Budget Committee (CMO) may vote this Tuesday on the report on the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) of 2026, which includes a provision to oblige payment of parliamentary amendments up to three months before the election. The Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government is trying to block the measure, which has broad support from Centrão and Congress leadership.

The device, included by rapporteur Gervásio Maia (PSB-PB), determines that funds allocated to health, social assistance and special transfers — the so-called Pix amendments — be paid off by June of next year.

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The measure, which does not exist today, would guarantee allied parliamentarians and mayors the early receipt of resources and would increase the potential for political use of the funds in an election year.

In Planalto, the assessment is that the calendar hampers budget execution, reduces fiscal room for maneuver and weakens the political articulation of the Executive in Congress. Members of the economic team and the Institutional Relations Secretariat discuss alternatives to provide predictability to releases without setting dates in law.

In Congress, the movement is seen as a step towards consolidating the Legislative power over the Budget. Deputies and senators argue that anticipation gives city halls security and prevents political retention of transfers. The National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) supports the text, stating that the format facilitates local planning and reduces the risk of works being stopped.

The proposal resumes a debate from 2024, when Congress approved a similar rule vetoed by Lula. At the time, after negotiations, the government released around R$30 billion in amendments by decree before the municipal election — the largest volume ever recorded.

The government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), criticizes the attempt to fix the calendar and sees electoral motivation in the pressure from Centrão.

“I think it’s funny: on the one hand, they cut; on the other, they want to impose a calendar to pay until June, July, all the amendments, because it’s an election year. Then they don’t know why they wear out. Can you imagine: putting a calendar in front of the population that says “little flour, my munchkin first”. Because no one pays everything they have to pay for education, not for health, not for security, in six months.

Wagner adds that the measure “has no logic” and only serves to anticipate political gains.

“The only specific thing about the amendment that I talk about is the calendar, which, in my opinion, is illogical. It’s a completely electoral calendar. I’m even perplexed as to how someone puts this in place. How do you say to the population: okay, we’re in a bad situation, everyone is a fiscalist, we have to respect the fiscalist — as long as mine arrives by June”? That is, a year of six months.