Brazilian Congress to mull gov't's alleged fiscal violations

Brazil's judicial branch Friday submitted a recommendation to Congress to reject the government's accounts of how it spent the 2014 budget.

The recommendation issued late Wednesday by Brazil's federal audit court (TCU) concludes President Dilma Rousseff's government violated fiscal responsibility laws.

Should Congress vote to reject the accounts, the conservative opposition could use the decision to launch impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, whose popularity rating is currently dismal following one of the worst public-sector scandals in the country's history.

A congressional budget committee of senators and deputies has up to 40 days to prepare a report to Congress, after which legislators will have 15 days to make amendments and another 15 days to present a final document.

Senator Renan Calheiros, president of Congress, said on Thursday the procedure would follow the steps prescribed by law.

"The TCU passed a recommendation, a prior opinion. The national Congress will have the final say .... All trials, even political ones, must abide by the laws and terms," he said.

This is only the second time in Brazil's history that the TCU has recommended Congress reject the fiscal accounts submitted by a president. The first was in 1937, when Congress decided to dismiss the recommendation during Getulio Vargas' presidency.

The TCU said it detected irregularities in the transfer of funds sent by the National Treasury to state-run banks to pay for social welfare programs, such as the Bolsa Familia, or Family Pocketbook, which subsidizes poor families.

While Rousseff's left-leaning coalition has a majority in both houses of Congress, several of the political parties appear to be distancing themselves from the president's Workers' Party. Endi