Hugo Motta schedules special session on INSS fraud amid political offensive against Lula government.

247 - Amid the escalating political crisis between the National Congress and the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), authorized a special session to discuss allegations of fraud in the INSS (National Social Security Institute) membership fee deductions. This information was published by... FSP this Monday (30).

The hearing, scheduled to take place on Wednesday (2), will have the format of a general committee, that is, a broad debate that brings together deputies from all the House committees. Invited to provide clarifications are the Minister of Social Security, Wolney Queiroz, the current president of INSS, Gilberto Waller, and the former president of the agency, Alessandro Steffanutto, dismissed after the launch of an operation by the Federal Police and the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU).

The investigation revealed a billion-dollar scheme of undue automatic deductions applied to INSS (Brazilian National Social Security Institute) beneficiaries, involving associations and unions, which may have involved more than R$ 6 billion. The amounts were debited directly from the benefits of retirees and pensioners without their consent or based on fraudulent authorizations.

The request for the hearing came from Representative Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE), who reported receiving Motta's approval this Monday. According to the congressman, the objective is to deepen the debate on three fronts: "With the general committee, we want to delve into the three axes of the project: the restitution of the amounts to the insured as quickly as possible; the possibility of confiscating amounts for restitution; and ensuring that situations like this never happen again," stated Forte.

Beyond the public debate, there is strong pressure in Congress to advance this week the bill that prohibits automatic payroll deductions for INSS (Brazilian National Social Security Institute) beneficiaries—a mechanism identified as facilitating fraudulent schemes. Hugo Motta himself is the rapporteur for the proposal, which reinforces the centrality of the issue in the clash between the Legislative and Executive branches.

The hearing is being called at a delicate moment in the relationship between the Presidential Palace and the Chamber of Deputies. Last week, under Motta's leadership, the deputies overturned the federal government's decree that altered the rules of the IOF (Tax on Financial Operations), which was interpreted as a significant defeat for Lula and his economic team.

In response, the government launched an offensive on social media, defending the need for measures to strengthen revenue collection and finance income distribution policies. Hugo Motta, in turn, did not leave the Executive's criticisms unanswered, which further increased the tension between the branches of government.

The opposition has been exploiting the INSS case as ammunition against the government, although the Presidential Palace argues that the fraudulent scheme originated during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).