Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)


The Chamber of Deputies is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The current president of the chamber is the Deputy Hugo Motta, who was elected on 1 February 2025.

Structure

The number of deputies elected is proportional to the size of the population of the respective state as of 1994. However, no delegation can be made up of less than eight or more than seventy seats. Thus the least populous state elects eight federal deputies and the most populous elects seventy. These restrictions favour the smaller states at the expense of the more populous states and so the size of the delegations is not exactly proportional to population.
Elections to the Chamber of Deputies are held every four years, with all seats up for election.

Federal representation

A census held every 10 years by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics is used as the basis for the distribution of the seats. Proportionality is followed as a principle, with the exception that there should be a minimum of eight members and a maximum of seventy members per state. Per the 2010 census, states with 3,258,117 inhabitants upwards have 9 to 70 deputies.
As a result, although most states hover around an average of 362,013 inhabitants by deputy, some states with smaller populations have a much lower average, such as Roraima.
Federal stateDeputies currently allotted%Population %Population per deputyDeputies in proportional allotmentDifference
São Paulo7013.6%39,924,09121.5%570,344110–40
Minas Gerais5310.3%19,159,26010.3%361,495530
Rio de Janeiro469%15,180,6368.2%330,01442+4
Bahia397.6%13,633,9697.3%349,58938+1
Rio Grande do Sul316%10,576,7585.7%341,18629+2
Paraná305.8%10,226,7375.5%340,89128+2
Pernambuco254.9%8,541,2504.6%341,65024+1
Ceará224.3%8,450,5274.4%371,82223–1
Maranhão183.5%6,424,3403.5%356,908180
Goiás173.3%5,849,1053.1%344,06516+1
Pará173.3%7,443,9044.0%437,87721–4
Santa Catarina163.1%6,178,6033.3%386,16317–1
Paraíba122.3%3,753,6332.0%312,80310+2
Espírito Santo101.9%3,392,7751.8%339,2789+1
Piauí101.9%3,086,4481.7%308,6459+1
Alagoas91.7%3,093,9941.7%343,77790
Acre81.6%707,1250.4%88,3912+6
Amazonas81.6%3,350,7731.8%418,8479–1
Amapá81.6%648,5530.3%81,0692+6
Distrito Federal81.6%2,469,4891.3%308,6867+1
81.6%2,404,2561.3%300,5327+1
Mato Grosso81.6%2,954,6251.6%369,32880
Rio Grande do Norte81.6%3,121,4511.7%390,1819–1
Rondônia81.6%1,535,6250.8%191,9534+4
Roraima81.6%425,3980.2%53,1751+7
Sergipe81.6%2,036,2271.1%254,5286+2
Tocantins81.6%1,373,5510.7%171,6944+4
Total513100%185,712,713100%362,013514–2

Present composition

Partisan blocs composition

Partisan bloc leadership is organized into the following roles:
  • Government Leader: elected by members of the party of the Cabinet in the Chamber to speak on behalf of the Cabinet
  • Majority Leader: elected by the leaders of the majority bloc in the Chamber, usually in support of the Cabinet
  • Opposition Leader: elected by the members of the largest party in opposition to the Cabinet
  • Minority Leader: elected by the leaders of the minority bloc, usually in opposition to the Cabinet
BlocLeader
GovernmentJosé Guimarães
MajorityArlindo Chinaglia
OppositionLuciano Zucco
MinorityCaroline de Toni

Bodies

The House of Deputies is composed of the Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil by College Leaders and the Commissions, which can be permanent, temporary, or special inquiry.

Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil

The current composition of the Board of the Chamber of Deputies is the following:
President: Hugo Motta

1st vice president: Altineu Côrtes

2nd vice president: Elmar Nascimento

1st secretary: Carlos Veras

2nd secretary: Lula da Fonte

3rd secretary: Delegada Katarina

4th secretary: Sérgio Souza

1st substitute: Antonio Carlos Rodrigues

2nd substitute: Paulo Folletto

3rd substitute: Victor Linhalis

4th substitute: Paulo Alexandre Barbosa

Standing committees

On 6 March 2012, was defined division of committees between parties. The House President, Marco Maia, believes that the proportionality between the parties / blocs must take into account the data of the last election. Thus, PT and PMDB, with the highest benches, were three committees. DEM and PSDB, the two largest opposition, were two commissions each. On the other hand, PSD, most harmed by this decision, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court trying to reverse this decision.
The chair of the committee, was defined as follows:
CommitteeChair
Administration and Public ServiceWaldemar Oliveira
Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural DevelopmentEvair de Melo
Amazon and Originary and Traditional PeopleDilvanda Faro
CommunicationSilas Câmara
Consumer DefenceFabio Schiochet
Constitution, Justice and CitizenshipCaroline de Toni
CultureAliel Machado
Defense of Women RightsAna Pimentel
Defense of Elderly RightsPedro Aihara
Defense of People with Disabilities RightsWeliton Prado
Economic DevelopmentDanilo Forte
EducationNikolas Ferreira
Environment and Sustainable DevelopmentRafael Prudente
Ethics and Parliamentary DecorumLeur Lomanto Júnior
Finances and TaxationMário Negromonte Jr.
Financial Oversight and ControlJoseildo Ramos
Foreign Affairs and National DefenseLucas Redecker
HealthFrancisco Costa
Human Rights, Minorities and Racial EqualityDaiana Santos
Industry, Trade and ServicesJosenildo Abrantes
LabourLucas Ramos
Mines and EnergyJúnior Ferrari
National Integration and Regional DevelopmentJosé Rocha
Participative LegislationGlauber Braga
Public Security and Fight Against Organized CrimeAlberto Fraga
Roads and TransportsGilberto Abramo
Science, Technology and InnovationNely Aquino
Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and FamilyFrancisco Eurico
SportsAntonio Carlos Rodrigues
TourismPaulo Litro
Urban DevelopmentEunício Oliveira