What are the powers of the presidents of the House and Senate?

Decided every two years, the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate Presidencies accumulate attributions ranging from administrative and routine functions from their own homes to decisions that can influence the country’s directions.

The choice of the new heads of the two legislative houses, after four years of Arthur Lira (PP-AL) presiding over the House, and Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), the Senate, took place this Saturday, February 1st. Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB) was elected to chair the House and Senator David Alcolumbre (Union-AP) to command the Senate.

At the head of the National Congress, the new presidents will have a direct influence on topics of interest to the Executive, and may decide, for example, which guidelines will enter the agenda, and are in the succession line of the Presidency of the Republic.

Also as the attribution of the presidents of the houses, but with unprecedented due to the proportion that the matter has taken, it is the power to direct the commission amendments, a type of non -imposing parliamentary amendment in which the thematic committees of the House and Senate indicate collectively indicate the values ​​of the transfers.

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The amount intended for parliamentary amendments grows almost continuously since 2015, and in 2024 it has recorded with almost R $ 45 billion committed, which makes the presidents of the federal legislature also control a significant part of the country’s budget. of each position:

Mayor of the Chamber of Deputies

Bill votes: At the head of the main house proposed by bills, the mayor is the one who defines which of these texts will be voted by the deputies in the plenary and when. This, in practice, gives him the power to dictate the rhythm with which proposals – expensive to the government or opponents – are being processed.

Regimental mechanisms, such as postponing sessions on the way of not getting enough support on any vote of interest, or convening extraordinary sessions, also increases the power of the mayor, even if his pair in the Senate.

Impeachment requests: It is also the mayor’s prerogative to accept impeachment requests against the President of the Republic. It is up to him to analyze whether the request complies with legal requirements to be admitted, and thus initiate the process that goes through the evaluation of the deputies and the decision of the senators.

Special committees and investigations: The head of the House can also create commissions for special matters and decide on the extension of the Inquiry Parliamentary Committees (CPIs), which have the power to investigate the executive. According to the Rules of Procedure, only five commissions of this type can operate simultaneously, and it is up to the president to decide which one will be kept and which will be closed.

It is also from the president of the House, who heads the Board of Directors, the decision on whether or not to send requests for revocation of deputies to the Ethics Council.

Succession line: After the Vice-President of the Republic, it is the head of the House who assumes the chair if the President of the Republic is absent from the country. He is therefore the responsibility of signing the Executive Power’s dispatches when the elected duo is absent.

If the chair is vague in the last two years of the term, the mayor assumes interimly, until the Senate calls indirect elections to elect a new president to meet the remaining time.

Senate President

Double position: In addition to commanding the Senate, the president also accumulates the position of head of the National Congress, presiding over the sessions in which the two houses meet. It is his, therefore, the decision on which bills will be guided in Congress sessions, in addition to the same function in the Senate, which most of the time operates as a “review house” of the texts sent by the House.

National Security: It is also the president of the Senate who can convene extraordinary sessions of Congress to address serious national security issues, such as to deliberate any federal interventions, decree of state of defense or authorizing state of site in the country.

Vetoes to the executive and budget: It is in the joint sessions of the two houses that topics such as budget laws (Budgetary Guidelines Law, Annual Budget Law and Multiannual Plan) and presidential vetoes are discussed.

When the President of the Republic vetoes excerpts from a law, the decision on whether or not to overthrow these vetoes will be voted by the Congress, the Senate President is the responsibility of the Senate.

Tiebreaker and secret sessions: In Senate sessions, the president is the one who votes last to decide cases where there is a draw, in public votes, and is the only one with the power to make a secret session, that is, closed to the public, including the house’s own servers .

Third in the succession line: After the mayor, it is the head of the Senate who assumes the presidential chair if the other leaders are out of the country. It will be the one who, in 2027, will give inauguration in solemn session of the National Congress to the President of the Republic who beat the elections of the year coming.