Atuação do Relator Geral no Processo de Formulação do Orçamento Federal (2020-2022).

This article aims to analyze the role of the General Rapporteur in the formulation of the Federal Budget from 2020 to 2022. The literature has given considerable attention to the participation of the Legislative Branch in the Brazilian budgetary process, focusing on individual budget amendments by federal deputies. However, this type of amendment does not represent the primary form of intervention by the National Congress in the budget. The amounts allocated for the General Rapporteur's amendments have occupied the largest share of this space, especially since 2020, due to political changes, demands for investments in specific areas, and external pressures on the budgetary process. Based on this, we ask: what is the role of the General Rapporteur in the annual budget? What is the purpose of their budget amendments? To answer this question, all resolutions of the National Congress concerning the rules governing the Legislative Branch's role in the budget were analyzed, as well as data on the budget amendments presented by the rapporteur during the period under review. In this context, the aim of this article is to identify the criteria adopted in the allocation of resources. The results of this study indicate two main findings. First, the criteria employed in the distribution of the rapporteur's amendments are predominantly political in nature. Second, the largest proportion of these resources is aimed at expanding the government's support base, similar to what occurs with individual and caucus amendments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]