Gilmar reopens action and approves Bolsa Família adjustment
The minister Gilmar Mendes, from STF, reopened an action archived in 2024 to approve the 15.04% adjustment in Bolsa Família. The decision followed a request from AGU and occurs 17 days before the election, with an impact of R$ 5.8 billion this year.
Minister Gilmar Mendes, of Supremo Tribunal Federal, reopened a share that had been filed in 2024 to release the 15.04% increase in Bolsa Família benefits. The decision, taken in a heterodox way, responded to a request from the Advocacia Geral da União and was announced by the Palácio do Planalto 17 days before the election. The realignment will cost R$ 5.8 billion later this year and R$ 22.7 billion in 2027.
The action in question is the injunction 7,300, proposed in 2020 by the Public Ombudsman of the Union on behalf of an unemployed who received the Bolsa Família and claimed to live in a street situation and have health problems. An injunction is an instrument that can be used by a citizen claiming that there is an omission of a power of the Republic by not having regulated a certain right or freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.
Understand the history of the injunction
According to the Ombudsman, there was an omission by the President of the Republic to discipline the basic income of citizenship, created in 2004, which made the values of the benefit insufficient. The case was reported at the time by the then STF minister Marco Aurélio Mello, who retired in 2021. Marco Aurélio rejected the injunction in 2020.
In the merit judgment of the action, in April 2021, still during the government of the then president Jair Bolsonaro, the STF determined that the amount of the benefit should be sufficient to meet the minimum expenses of each person with food, education and health. According to the Court, the government should take all necessary legal measures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TbwtmxAaMs
Video: YouTube | Source: www.poder360.com.br
Archived in 2024 and reopened
With the retirement of Marco Aurelio in 2021, Gilmar Mendes inherited the case. In March 2023, after the Court judged some appeals, what is called in the legal jargon of “transit on trial” occurred. In August 2024, the action with the injunction 7,300 went to the STF file.
The dean of the STF (the longest-serving minister in the Court) has reopened the action to give the assent for the readjustment. Gilmar was provoked by the Advocacia Geral da União through petition 118,035, a document that is not publicly available. The full decision of Gilmar can be consulted in PDF.
Decision anticipates TSE analysis
In ruling in favour of the Plateau, Mendes anticipated a decision that should be taken soon by the vice-president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), André Mendonça. The candidate of the Mission to the Presidency of the Republic, Renan Santos, questioned the readjustment.
The source did not detail the terms of the questioning submitted by Renan Santos, but Gilmar's measure may influence TSE's understanding of the legality of the increase in election period.
Internal crisis on STF
The Supremo Tribunal Federal faces an internal crisis involving the possibility of investigation of Minister Alexandre de Moraes in the investigation of the Master case. Gilmar, Cristiano Zanin and Flávio Dino are advocating for the annulment of the case – and are thus allied to what the Plateau Palace is also advocating.
Gilmar’s decision comes at a time of tension in the Court, with divisions among ministers over sensitive issues. The reopening of the Bolsa Família action can be seen as another chapter of this internal dispute.
The Boca no Trombone Portal will continue to monitor the unfolding of this decision and its impacts for the beneficiaries of the program and for the national political scenario.
📄 Related Documents
📎 in full (gilmar-valida-reajuste-de-bolsa-familia-per-lula-en-periodo-electoral-18.set_.2026.pdf)
📎 in full (mandato-injuncao-7300-STF-2020.pdf)
Read Also
Lula called Bolsonaro ineligibility in 2022 after Bolsa Família increase on the eve of the election
AGU defends in the STF readjustment of 15% in the Bolsa Família
OAB-RJ defends Rodrigo Fux after message leak
Font
www.power360.com
Prioritize Power in Google (www.google.com)
in full (static.poder360.com.br)
7.300 (portal.stf.jus.br)
in full (static.poder360.com.br)
Jair Bolsonaro (drive.poder360.com.br)
