The Federal Senate () is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the National Congress of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. When created under the Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

of the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

, but since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and under the first republican Constitution the Federal Senate has resembled the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. The current president of the Federal Senate is

Davi Alcolumbre Davi Samuel Alcolumbre Tobelem (; born 19 June 1977) is a Brazilian politician member of Brazil Union (UNIÃO). He is Senator for Amapá and, in the biennium 2019–2020, former President of the Federal Senate from 2019 to 2021 and former Pre ...

, a member of UNIÃO from

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

. He was re-elected in February 2025 for his two-year non-consecutive term, as he had already led the Senate between 2019-21 during Bolsonaro's government.

Membership

The Senate has 81 members, serving an eight-year

term of office A term of office, electoral term, or parliamentary term is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subjec ...

. There are three senators from each of the country's 27 federative units, the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

and the 26

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. Elections are staggered so that either a third or two-thirds of senators are up for election every four years. The most recent election took place in 2022, where one-third of the Senate was elected. Elections are held under the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

and

block voting Block or bloc voting refers to a class of electoral systems where multiple candidates are elected simultaneously. They do not guarantee minority representation and allow a group of voters (a voting bloc) to ensure that only their preferred candi ...

systems. In years when a third of members are up for election, voters can cast only one vote and the candidate who receives a

plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...

of votes within their state is elected. In years when two-thirds of members are up for election, voters can cast two votes. People can not vote for the same candidate twice, but each party can field up to two candidates in each state. The two highest-placed candidates in each state are elected.

History

The Federal Senate of Brazil was established as the ''Imperial Senate'' by the

Constitution of 1824 A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, first enacted after the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. It was modelled on the

of the

. Following independence, in 1822, Emperor Pedro I ordered the convocation of a Assembleia Geral Constituinte e Legislativa (''Legislative and Constituent General Assembly'') to draft the country's first Constitution. Following several disagreements with the elected deputies (which included representatives from present-day

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, then part of the Brazilian Empire under the name of '' Província Cisplatina''), the Emperor dissolved the Assembly. In 1824, Pedro I implemented the first Constitution which established a legislative branch with the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

as the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

, and the Senate as an upper house. The first configuration of the Senate was a consulting body to the Emperor. Membership was for life and it was a place of great prestige, to which only a small part of the population could aspire. The original Senate had 50 members, representing all of the Empire's provinces, each with a number of senators proportional to its population. In addition to these elected senators, daughters and sons of the Emperor aged at least 25 were senators by right. The elected members of the Senate had to be at least 40 years old and have an annual income of 800,000 contos-de-réis, which limited candidates to wealthy citizens. Voters also faced an income qualification. Voting in an election for the Senate was limited to male citizens with an annual income of at least 200,000 contos-de-réis. Those who qualified for this did not vote directly for senators; instead, they voted for candidates to be Senate electors. To be a Senate elector required an annual income of 400,000 contos-de-réis. Once elected, these electors would then vote for senator. The election itself would not result in a winner automatically. The three candidates receiving the most votes would make up what was called a "''triple list''", from which the Emperor would select one individual that would be considered "''elected''". The Emperor usually chose the candidate with the most votes, but it was within his discretion to select whichever of the three individuals listed. Following the adoption of the 1824 Constitution, the first session of the Senate took place in May 1826. The Emperor had repeatedly delayed calling the first election, which had led to accusations that he would attempt to establish an absolutist government. The Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 ended the Brazilian Empire in favor of the First Republic. The 1891 Constitution was then adopted, transforming Brazil's provinces into states and the Senate into an elected body. This was retained under later constitutions, including the current 1988 Constitution. Now known as the Federal Senate, it resembles the

in that each state has the same number of senators. File:Bertichen camara senadores campo aclamacao.jpg, Palácio Conde dos Arcos, seat of the Imperial Senate in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, then Brazil's capital. File:Golden law 1888 Brazilian senate.png, The Imperial Senate in session, 1888 File:Palácio Monroe (cartão-postal 2).jpg, Palácio Monroe, second seat of the Senate. File:Plenário do Congresso (14651661588).jpg, The Federal Senate in the National Congress building in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

, capital city of Brazil since 1960. File:Senat de Brasilia.JPG, Exterior view of the Senate chamber.

Presiding Board

The current composition of the Mesa Diretora (''Presiding Board'') of the Federal Senate is as follows:

Composition

The current composition of the Senate (57th Legislature) is as follows:

Current senators

;

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

Alan Rick Alan Rick Miranda (born 23 October 1976), more commonly known as Alan Rick, is a Brazilian politician as well as a journalist, and television personality. He has spent his political career representing Acre, who had served as federal deputy repre ...

(UNIÃO) : Márcio Bittar (UNIÃO) : Sérgio Petecão (PSD) ;

Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...

: Eudócia Caldas (PL) : Fernando Farias (MDB) :

Renan Calheiros José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros (; born 16 September 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former President of the Federal Senate of Brazil. He has represented the state of Alagoas in the senate as a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement. ...

(MDB) ;

(UNIÃO) : Lucas Barreto (PSD) :

Randolfe Rodrigues Randolph Frederich Rodrigues Alves (; Garanhuns, 6 November 1972) is a Brazilian journalist and politician. Since 2011, Rodrigues serves as a Senator for the state of Amapá, was the most voted in the state's history in the 2010 Elections. He was ...

(PT) ; Amazonas :

Eduardo Braga Carlos Eduardo de Sousa Braga (born December 6, 1960) is a Brazilian politician and businessman, currently a republic senator from Amazonas. Better known as ''Eduardo Braga'', he was a councilman of Manaus (1981–1985), state deputy of amazonas ...

(MDB) : Omar Aziz (PSD) : Plínio Valério (PSDB) ;

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

: Angelo Coronel (PSD) : Jaques Wagner (PT) : Otto Alencar (PSD) ;

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

Augusta Brito Augusta Brito de Paula (born 27 May 1976) is a Brazilian politician serving as a member of the Federal Senate since 2023. From 2005 to 2012, she served as mayor of Graça. References 1976 births Living people Workers' Party (Brazil) pol ...

(PT) : Cid Gomes (PSB) :

Eduardo Girão Luís Eduardo Grangeiro Girão (born 25 September 1972) more commonly known as Eduardo Girão is a Brazilian politician as well as a businessman and football club president. He has spent his political career representing Ceará, having served as ...

(NOVO) ;

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

: Fabiano Contarato (PT) : Magno Malta (PL) : Marcos do Val (Podemos) ;

: Damares Alves (Republicans) : Izalci Lucas (PL) : Leila Barros (PDT) ;

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

Jorge Kajuru Jorge Kajuru Reis da Costa Nasser, better known as Jorge Kajuru (born January 20, 1961) is a sports journalist, broadcaster, television presenter, businessman and Brazilian politician affiliated with the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), being a ...

(PSB) : Vanderlan Cardoso (PSD) :

Wilder Morais Wilder Pedro de Morais (born June 29, 1968) is a Brazilian politician. He has represented Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal Dist ...

(PL) ;

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

: Ana Paula Lobato (PDT) : Eliziane Gama (PSD) : Weverton Rocha (PDT) ;

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

: Jayme Campos (UNIÃO) : Margareth Buzetti (PSD) : Wellington Fagundes (PL) ;

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

: Nelson Trad (PSD) : Soraya Thronicke (Podemos) : Tereza Cristina (PP) ;

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

: Carlos Viana (Podemos) : Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicans) : Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD) ;

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

: Beto Faro (PT) :

Jader Barbalho Jader Fontenelle Barbalho (born 27 October 1944) is a Brazilian politician, businessman and landowner from the state of Pará. He is currently a member of the PMDB party and a Senator for Pará. He is the father of Hélder Barbalho, former may ...

(MDB) :

Zequinha Marinho José da Cruz Marinho (born 18 September 1959) more commonly known as Zequinha Marinho is a Brazilian politician, as well as a pedagogist, accounting technician, and pastor. Although born in Tocantins, he has spent his political career represen ...

(Podemos) ;

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

: Daniella Ribeiro (PP) :

Efraim Filho Efraim de Araújo Morais Filho (born 18 March 1979) is a Brazilian politician serving as a member of the Senate since 2023. From 2007 to 2023, he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bica ...

(UNIÃO) : Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB) ; Paraná : Flávio Arns (PSB) :

Oriovisto Guimarães Oriovisto Guimarães (born August 12, 1945) is a Brazilian politician. He has represented Paraná (state), Paraná in the Brazilian Senate, Federal Senate since 2019 and he is a member of Podemos (Brazil), Podemos. He was president of Grupo Positi ...

(PSDB) :

Sergio Moro Sergio Fernando Moro (; born 1 August 1972) is a Brazilian jurist, former federal judge, college professor, and politician. He was elected as a member of the Federal Senate for Paraná in October 2022. In 2015, he gained national attention as ...

(UNIÃO) ;

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

Fernando Dueire Fernando Antonio Caminha Dueire (born 14 April 1959) is a Brazilian politician who has been one of the senators from the state of Pernambuco since 2022. Elected as a substitute initially, he succeeded Jarbas Vasconcelos who resigned due to health ...

(MDB) : Humberto Costa (PT) : Teresa Leitão (PT) ;

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

Ciro Nogueira Ciro Nogueira Lima Filho (born 21 November 1968) is a Brazilian lawyer, Businessperson, businessman, politician, and a member of the Progressistas (PP) party, of which he is the current president. He has represented Piauí in the Brazilian Senat ...

(PP) :

Jussara Lima Antônia Jussara Gomes Alves de Sousa Lima (born 5 December 1960) is a Brazilian sociologist and politician who is a senator from the state of Piauí. She has been in the position since 2023, replacing Wellington Dias (politician), Wellington Dia ...

(PSD) : Marcelo Castro (MDB) ;

: Carlos Portinho (PL) : Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) : Romário Faria (PL) ;

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", refe ...

: Rogério Marinho (PL) : Styvenson Valentim (PSDB) : Zenaide Maia (PSD) ;

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

: Hamilton Mourão (Republicans) : Luis Carlos Heinze (PP) : Paulo Paim (PT) ;

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

: Confúcio Moura (MDB) :

Jaime Bagattoli Jaime Maximino Bagattoli (born 26 April 1961) is a Brazilian politician, affiliated with the Liberal Party (PL), who has been one of the senators from the state of Rondônia since 2023. Born in Santa Catarina, he is a businessman in the agribusi ...

(PL) : Marcos Rogério (PL) ;

Roraima Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...

: Chico Rodrigues (PSB) : Hiran Gonçalves (PP) : Mecias de Jesus (Republicans) ; Santa Catarina : Espiridião Amin (PP) :

Ivete da Silveira Ivete Marli Appel da Silveira (born 28 May 1943) is a Brazilian teacher and politician who has been one of the senators from the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina since 2022. She succeeded Jorginho Mello, who became the governor of ...

(MDB) :

Jorge Seif Jorge Seif Júnior (born 10 May 1977) is a Brazilian politician serving as a member of the Federal Senate since 2023. From 2019 to 2022, he served as national secretary of fishing and aquaculture. References 1977 births Living people Li ...

(PL) ;

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

: Alexandre Giordano (MDB) :

Mara Gabrilli Mara Cristina Gabrilli (born 28 September 1967) is a Brazilian psychologist, advertiser and politician affiliated with the Social Democratic Party. She was elected as a federal deputy representing the state of São Paulo in the 2010 election, bei ...

(PSD) :

Marcos Pontes Marcos Cesar Pontes (born 11 March 1963) is a Brazilian Air Force pilot, engineer, Agência Espacial Brasileira, AEB astronaut, politician and author. He became the first South American and the first Lusophone to go into space when he docked ont ...

(PL) ;

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region along the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geogra ...

Alessandro Vieira Alessandro Vieira (born 3 April 1975) sometimes better known as Delegado Alessandro Vieira is a federal senator of Brazil representing the state of Sergipe. Although born in Rio Grande do Sul, he has spent his political career representing Sergip ...

(MDB) :

Laercio Oliveira Laercio José de Oliveira (born 15 April 1959) more commonly known as Laercio Oliveira is a Brazilian politician. Although born in Pernambuco, he has spent his political career representing Sergipe, having served as senator since 2023 and as cong ...

(PP) :

Rogério Carvalho Santos Rogério Carvalho Santos (born August 2, 1968) is a Brazilian physician and politician current serving as Senator of the Brazilian state of Sergipe. He is a former State Surgeon General of Sergipe Department of Health in Brazil. Member of the Wor ...

(PT) ;

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

: Dorinha Seabra (UNIÃO) : Eduardo Gomes (PL) : Irajá Abreu (PSD)

Standing committees

Notes

References

External links

Official website
of the Brazilian Senate (archived 15 June 2014)

* List of all Brazilian senators (1826–2011) {{Authority control

1824 establishments in Brazil Federal chambers

Membership

History

Presiding Board

Composition

Current senators

Standing committees

See also

Notes

References

External links