🤑 Follow the pork

After a windstorm swept through São Paulo last Wednesday, I was left for three days without electricity at home. Even so, my week was not nearly as grim as that of Congressman Arthur Lira, the former speaker of the House.

First, his colleagues moved to spare one of his political nemeses, Glauber Braga, from expulsion. Then, on Friday, federal agents paid a visit to Lira’s former top aide, Mariângela Fialek, who investigators believe was among the linchpins of Brazil’s infamous “secret budget” scheme.

To understand the scandal, it helps to begin with Brazil’s system of budgetary grants. These earmarks consist of portions of the federal budget over which members of Congress exert control, typically to finance projects in their home districts. Before 2015, controlling the distribution of grants was an essential coalition-building tool for presidents, who used it as a bargaining chip. Since then, however…

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