Council of Government of Brazil

First to Fourth Republics

Under the Constitutions of 1891^[7], 1934^[8], 1937^[9], and 1946^[10], executive power was vested in President of the Republic. In all of them, the Ministers of State were expressly mentioned as direct aides to the Head of the Federal Executive Branch, but there was no mention of a specific body such as the former Council of Ministers.

There were three occasions when the Federal Executive Branch was not formally vested in the President of the Republic:

1. From the Proclamation of the Republic until the coming into force of the 1891 Constitution, a period during which a Provisional Government led by Generalíssimo Deodoro da Fonseca was the supreme authority in the country.
2. In the aftermath of the Revolution of 1930, a Provisional Governing Junta deposed President Washington Luís, claiming to be the sole power in the country; it was quickly succeeded by a Provisional Government led by Getúlio Vargas until the coming into force of the 1934 Constitution.
3. In 1969, between the sudden illness of President Artur da Costa e Silva and the swearing-in of Emílio Garrastazu Médici as his successor. In this case, the Military Ministers assumed the powers of the President of the Republic by preventing Vice President Pedro Aleixo from becoming Acting President, in violation of the 1967 Constitution.

Late Fourth Republic

During the brief parliamentary system under the late Fourth Republic, the Additional Act to the 1946 Constitution re-established the Council of Ministers as a specific constitutional body, leading the Federal Executive Branch alongside the President of the Republic^[11].

The Council of Ministers was collectively accountable to the Chamber of Deputies for Federal Government policy and the overall direction of public administration. The Council of Ministers and its President was to be nominated by the President of the Republic and approved by an absolute majority of the Deputies; the Federal Senate played no part in the normal process but could raise objections.

If three nominations for the Council of Ministers were rejected by the Chamber of Deputies, it would fall to the Federal Senate to approve the appointment. In the event of a lack of parliamentary support after approval, demonstrated by motions of no confidence passed consecutively against three successive Councils, the President of the Republic could dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and call for new elections.

In the following year, a complementary law organized the operation of the Government and regulated the relationship between the President of the Republic, the Council of Ministers, and the National Congress, establishing procedures for the formation and operation of the cabinet, parliamentary oversight, and the exercise of executive authority^[12]. However, due to the short life of the parliamentary system, most of the related constitutional mechanisms were never applied.

Restoration of Presidentialism

The Council of Ministers, as a specific constitutional body, ceased to exist after the presidential system of government was restored following the 1963 referendum^[13]. The subsequent 1967 and 1988 Constitutions retained presidentialism as the system of government. In 1990, a provisional measure established the Council of Government in its current form^[14], and it was retained by subsequent presidencies.