Supersalaries have entered Brazil's presidential race. A survey by g1 published on September 21 maps what each candidate for the Planalto proposes to contain pay and perks in the public service, with less than a month to go before the election. The monthly cap for civil servants is R$ 46,400, the equivalent of a Supreme Court justice's salary, but indemnity payments, bonuses and other benefits push many paychecks well above that ceiling.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), from the opposition, lists "combatting perks and supersalaries" as a central plank of what he calls fiscal efficiency in the state apparatus. He proposes an administrative reform to modernize civil service careers and cut administrative spending. The plan of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the incumbent, makes no direct mention of the issue. His platform focuses on valuing rank-and-file employees, holding civil service exams and negotiating with unions through a permanent national bargaining table.
Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) proposes enforcing the constitutional cap across all branches and government agencies, with transparency on each pay component and accountability for payments that conflict with the Constitution. Renan Santos (Missão) bundles the "end of supersalaries" into his PEC do Equilíbrio Fiscal, a constitutional amendment proposal aimed at containing mandatory spending. Edmilson Costa (PCB) wants "an end to all payments and perks that exceed the constitutional cap" in the judiciary and the public prosecution service.
Former Minas Gerais governor Romeu Zema (Novo) offers the broadest package: regulate indemnity payments charged above the cap, limit vacation to 30 days in every career, eliminate allowances with no equivalent in the private sector and end compulsory retirement as a punishment. The changes would come through a sweeping administrative reform with fixed evaluation criteria, career consolidation, fewer posts and fixed-term hiring. The platforms of Augusto Cury (Avante), Clariana Barão (DC) and Hertz Dias (PSTU) do not mention the issue directly, according to g1.
The size of the problem
The add-ons cost public coffers more than R$ 10 billion in 2025 alone, the survey found. In an open letter released in August, experts at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) say supersalaries have become "the effective floor of elite legal careers".
"Constitutional Amendment 41/2003 established that no civil servant should earn above the salary of a Supreme Court justice. Two decades later, that limit has inverted itself. Breaching it is the rule, not the exception: it reaches 85.1% among judges, 89.1% in the public prosecution service, 72.2% among public defenders and 52.8% in government legal careers," said Luiz Guilherme Schymura, a researcher at FGV with a doctorate in economics.
A decision split between the court and Congress
At the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin are the rapporteurs on cases about the issue. In August, Moraes ordered seven state courts to return payments he called "exorbitant". The newspaper O Globo reported that the order covers judges in six states and the Federal District.
The next president will not decide this alone. Under the framework set by the court, Congress must pass a law establishing definitive rules for civil service pay. The STF cases remain open as Brazilians head to the polls for the first round in October.