In a stunning display of legislative speed rarely seen in Brasília, the Brazilian Congress approved a measure allowing staffers to earn up to R$77,000 monthly—far exceeding the constitutional salary cap of R$46,000—in just five hours and 14 minutes, placing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a difficult political position as he decides whether to veto or sanction the proposal.
The measure, reported by CNN Brasil, moved with extraordinary velocity through both chambers of Congress. The project was presented by the Chamber's directive board at 12:41 PM on Tuesday. Within 49 minutes, a rapporteur had been designated and a report prepared. Deputy Alberto Fraga (PL-DF) presented his assessment at 1:30 PM, and by 2:44 PM—just one hour and 14 minutes later—the Chamber had approved the text despite isolated obstruction attempts by lawmakers including Deputy Kim Kataguiri (União-SP) and members of PSOL.
In the Senate, the process moved even faster. The order of the day began at 5:48 PM, with rapporteur Senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF) delivering her assessment. Seven minutes later, the project was approved, completing a legislative process that typically requires weeks or months of deliberation.
In Brazil, as across Latin America's giant, continental scale creates both opportunity and governance challenges. What makes this episode particularly striking is not just the speed, but the cross-partisan unity it revealed. The same Chamber that champions administrative reform and campaigns against public sector privilege approved generous compensation increases for its own employees. Similarly, the government's congressional allies—who support Finance Minister Fernando Haddad's efforts to combat super-salaries and increase federal revenue—voted overwhelmingly in favor of these same "penduricalhos" (perks) when applied to legislative staff.
The proposed salaries would allow congressional staffers to earn approximately $14,000 USD monthly, in a country where the median household income hovers around R$3,000 per month. The measure effectively creates a carve-out from Brazil's constitutional salary ceiling, a provision designed to prevent exactly this type of excessive public compensation.
Analyst Matheus Teixeira, speaking on CNN's Bastidores program, highlighted the "incomum rapidez" (unusual speed) of the approval process, noting that the timeline suggested careful pre-coordination among legislative leadership across party lines. The swift passage came despite Brazil's typically deliberative legislative culture, where major bills often languish in committee for months or face multiple rounds of negotiation.
The political implications extend beyond Brasília. President Lula now faces a no-win scenario: vetoing the measure risks antagonizing the congressional majority he needs to advance his legislative agenda, while sanctioning it exposes him to accusations of hypocrisy given his government's rhetoric about fiscal responsibility and reducing inequality.
The episode also reveals the enduring power of what Brazilians call "corporativismo"—the tendency of Brazil's political and bureaucratic class to protect its own interests across ideological lines. While left-wing and right-wing politicians clash publicly over economic policy, social programs, and cultural issues, they demonstrate remarkable unity when their collective privileges are at stake.
For ordinary Brazilians watching from São Paulo's favelas or the Amazon's rural communities, the spectacle reinforces cynicism about their political system. The same Congress that debates for months over minimum wage increases or social program funding can move with lightning speed when expanding benefits for itself.
Opposition figures have begun calling the measure "supersalários" (super-salaries), linking it to broader debates about privilege in Brazil's public sector. The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive moment, as the Lula government pushes for new revenue measures to meet fiscal targets, including proposals that would affect middle-class taxpayers.
Legal scholars have questioned whether the measure violates constitutional principles, arguing that creating exceptions to the salary ceiling undermines the constitutional framework. Some have suggested the Supreme Court may need to review the law's constitutionality if it is enacted.
The swift approval also highlights structural challenges in Brazil's political system. With 513 deputies and 81 senators representing a nation of continental dimensions—spanning five time zones and encompassing regions with vastly different economic realities—mechanisms for genuine democratic deliberation often give way to elite coordination. When legislative leadership across parties agrees on something, it can bypass normal procedural safeguards with remarkable efficiency.
President Lula has 15 working days to decide whether to veto the measure, veto parts of it, or allow it to become law. His decision will be closely watched as a signal of his priorities: maintaining congressional relations or demonstrating fiscal discipline and political principle.
The episode serves as a reminder that in Brazilian politics, the deepest divides may not be between left and right, government and opposition, or even São Paulo and the Amazon—but between the political class and the citizens they represent.
