Lula and Senate Tensions Continue Over Court Pick

Tensions between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government and Congress continued to escalate Tuesday, when Senate leader Davi Alcolumbre canceled a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Jorge Messias.

Alcolumbre had initially scheduled the hearing for Messias, currently the attorney general, for Dec. 10, to pressure Lula’s nominee and demonstrate his dissatisfaction with the pick. The Senate chief renewed his criticism of the government for failing to send formal nomination notice, thus leading to the postponement of the hearing.