The confirmation hearings of appointees to the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts post-1988: appointment power and horizontal accountability

Olivieri, Cecília; Gonçalves, David Guilherme Andriotto; Casaniga, Guilherme Lissone

doi:10.1590/0103-3352.2025.44.281023pt

home Sumário navigate_before Anterior Atual Seguinte navigate_next

home Sumário

ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Rev. Bras. Ciênc. Polít. 44 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-3352.2025.44.281023en linkcopy

The confirmation hearings of appointees to the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts post-1988: appointment power and horizontal accountability

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract:

The article analyzed the confirmation hearings of Court of Accounts (TCU) ministerial nominees between 1988 and 2023 to understand what they reveal about the appointment process and horizontal accountability. Using content analysis of Senate hearing transcripts the study reveals preferences and conflicts that are not apparent in the senators’ votes. Among these preferences is the minister profile valued by Senators (experienced politicians with “political sensitivity”). The research also identifies the topics that interest senators in the debate on horizontal accountability and reveal the conflicts between senators and TCU (regarding the autonomy and responsiveness of the TCU before Congress). In other words, the confirmation hearings for TCU ministers are a significant locus of power, comparable to those for positions at the Central Bank of Brazil and in foreign relations.

Keywords:
confirmation hearings; Senate; court of audit; appointed positions

Ministers	Origin of the appointment	Year	Senate vote (Yes, No, Abstention)	Transcription available
Olavo Drummond	President - free appointment	1990	Data unavailable	No
Iram de Almeida Saraiva	Senate	1995	Data unavailable	No
Humberto Guimarães Souto	Chamber of Deputies	1995	51Y - 03N - 03A	No
Bento José Bugarin	President - nominated among TCU auditors	1995	46Y - 01N - 01A	Yes
Valmir Campelo	Senate	1997	63Y - 00N - 01A	Yes
Adylson Motta	Chamber of Deputies	1998	62Y - 01N - 00A	Yes
Walton Alencar Rodrigues	President - nominated among civil servants from the Public Prosecutor’s Office within the TCU	1999	64Y - 03N - 04A	Yes
Guilherme Palmeira	Senate	1999	64Y - 03N - 01A	Yes
Ubiratan Diniz de Aguiar	Chamber of Deputies	2001	62Y - 06N - 01A	No
Benjamin Zymler	President - nominated among TCU auditors	2001	61Y - 05N - 02A	Yes
Augusto Nardes	Chamber of Deputies	2005	61Y - 06N - 02A	No
Aroldo Cedraz	Chamber of Deputies	2006	59Y - 03N - 01A	No
Raimundo Carreiro	Senate	2007	73Y - 00N - 00A	No
José Jorge de Vasconcelos	Senate	2008	41Y - 00N - 00A	Yes
José Múcio Monteiro	President - free appointment	2009	46Y - 11N - 01A	Yes
Ana Arraes Nascimento	Chamber of Deputies	2011	48Y - 17N - 01A	No
Bruno Dantas Nascimento	Senate	2014	47Y - 00N - 00A	Yes
Vital do Rêgo Nascimento	Senate	2014	63Y - 01N - 01A	Yes
Jorge Francisco	President - free appointment	2020	53Y - 07N - 00A	Yes
Antonio Anastasia	Senate	2021	52Y - 00N - 00A	Yes
Jhonatan de Jesus	Chamber of Deputies	2023	72Y - 02N - 01A	Yes

Date	Minister	Origin of the appointment	Professional profile	Contents of questions
Date	Minister	Origin of the appointment	Professional profile	Laudatory	TCU’s operation	Expectations	Challenge
1995	Bento José Bugarin	President - TCU auditor	Civil Servant	4	7	2	0
1999	Walton Alencar Rodrigues	President - Prosecutor of the public prosecutor’s office within the TCU	Civil Servant	3	3	0	0
2001	Benjamin Zymler	President - TCU auditor	Civil Servant	3	1	1	0
2009	José Mucio Monteiro	President - free appointment	Politician	15	3	1	0
2020	Jorge Francisco	President - free appointment	Advisor	9	15	1	4
Partial results				34	29	5	4
Partial results				47.20%	40.30%	6.90%	5.60%
1997	Valmir Campelo	Senate	Politician	17	0	0	0
1999	Guilherme Palmeira	Senate	Politician	11	1	0	0
2008	José Jorge de Vasconcelos	Senate	Politician	3	3	0	0
2014	Bruno Dantas Nascimento	Senate	Civil Servant	2	10	1	0
2014	Vital do Rêgo	Senate	Politician	13	2	3	0
2021	Antonio Anastasia	Senate	Politician	1	0	0	0
Partial results				47	16	4	0
Partial results				70.10%	23.90%	6.00%	0
Total				81	45	9	4
Total				58.30%	32.40%	6.50%	2.90%

Appointee profile	Laudatory		TCU’s operation		Expectation		Challenge
Civil servant	12	14.8%	21	46.7%	4	44.4%	0	0
Politician	60	74.1%	9	20.0%	4	44.4%	0	0
Advisor	9	11.1%	15	33.3%	1	11.1%	4	100%
Total	81	100%	45	100%	9	100%	4	100%

Relatioship between the TCU and Congress
Criation of a board to oversee the courts of accounts
Autonomy of the TCU in relation to the legislature
Competitive hiring process to select TCU ministers
Lifetime tenure of TCU ministers
Political Independence
Excessive autonomy of the TCU in relation to Congress
Political impartiality of TCU ministers
Proximity to the President
Audited entities or programs
State-owned banks and public funds
Closed pension plans
Privatization
Subsidies
Public expenditure
Corruption
Spending efficiency
Bank secrecy
Credit concession
The court’s institutional efficiency
Audit of public accounts
Dscentralization of the court expanding its reach
Internal controlo f the executive
Agility of the TCU
Expansion of controls
Money laundering law
Prevention
Inspection in municipalities
Inspection of public works
Unfinished construction works
Parliamentary Inquiry Commissions (CPI)
Public Procurements
Misappropriation of public funds

vertical_align_top show_chart

more_horiz close
- image
- translate
- link
- article
- vertical_align_top
- file_download
- show_chart
- image
- translate
- link
- article

location_on

Universidade de Brasília. Instituto de Ciência Política Instituto de Ciência Política, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro - Gleba A Asa Norte, 70904-970 Brasília - DF Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3107-0777 , Cel.: (55 61) 3107 0780 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: rbcp@unb.br

rss_feed Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[TFN5] Source: Elaborated by the authors using data from Brasil (2023).