Brazilian President Lula vetoes creation of Federal Technological Universities for Cefet-MG and Cefet-RJ

The Brazilian federal government, through President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, issued a full veto on Bill PL 5.102/2023, which would have transformed the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (Cefet-MG) and the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (Cefet-RJ) into the Universidade Tecnológica Federal de Minas Gerais (UTFMG) and the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UTFRJ). The veto was published in the Official Gazette on 31 July 2026 after the proposal had passed both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

The executive justified the veto by citing a constitutional “vício de iniciativa,” arguing that only the President may propose reorganization of federal administrative bodies. The ministries of Education, Finance, Planning and the Attorney General’s Office opposed the measure. The veto now returns to Congress, where an absolute majority in both houses would be required to overturn it; otherwise the institutions will retain their current status.