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Activists with Black Lives Matter D.C., 1199SEIU, and ShutDownDC hold up a sign as they participate in a protest to highlight the plight of vulnerable community members, including immigrant workers and people in jails, prisons, and ICE detention centers on Monday, April 27, 2020. (Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Top Unions Accuse Trump of Exploiting Loopholes in Covid-19 Stimulus to 'Enrich Corporate Executives'
"The Trump administration has, once again, shown complete disregard for the well-being of working families and failed to implement any requirements that would benefit workers."
Apr 28, 2020
Leaders of some of the largest labor unions in the United States are warning that the Trump administration is brushing aside the interests of workers in its distribution of trillions of dollars in coronavirus bailout funds and instead using the taxpayer money to further enrich wealthy corporate executives.
As funds authorized by the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act begin to fly out the door, the unions wrote in letters (pdf) to Democratic leaders Monday that they "are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients."
"Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve's lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers' right to organize," the unions wrote. "This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers."
"We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections."
The unions sent the letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.). The letters' signatories include Dan Mauer of the Communications Workers of America, Tor Cowan of the American Federation of Teachers, and John Gray of the Service Employees International Union.
The CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, contains some restrictions on corporate recipients of federal bailout funds--including limits on layoffs, stock buybacks, and executive compensation--but the law also empowers Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to waive those restrictions, effectively rendering them meaningless.
"We were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll," the unions wrote Monday. "Unfortunately the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid."
"The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well," the unions said.
The unions' warnings came as progressives continue to raise alarm about how the trillions of dollars in corporate bailout funds are being utilized, particularly given that the limited oversight mechanisms established by the CARES Act are not yet fully functional.
The Federal Reserve has committed to making public the names of companies that receive bailout money, but the central bank has not said it will release the terms and conditions of the taxpayer loans.
The unions demanded Monday that Democratic lawmakers work to guarantee that any future stimulus package contains enforceable restrictions to protect workers and prevent profiteering by corporate executives.
"We urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump administration has exploited to undermine them already," the labor leaders wrote.
"We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections," they added.
Read the full letter to Schumer and Brown:
On behalf of our millions of members, thank you for the leadership that you have shown during these extraordinarily challenging times as our country battles the COVID-19 pandemic. We especially want to thank you for your efforts to prioritize workers and worker protections during the drafting of the CARES Act and your continued efforts to provide help to the millions of workers across the U.S. who are suffering from this pandemic and the economic fallout.
Unfortunately, as the implementation of the legislation is carried out, and funds are beginning to flow to various employers and corporate entities, we are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients. Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve's lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers' right to organize. This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers.
We know that you share our belief that the most important step that Congress can take is to ensure that federal taxpayer funds are used first and foremost to keep employees on payroll. Ensuring that workers keep their jobs and the economic certainty those jobs provide is critical to blunting the impact of the economic fallout from this pandemic on the overall U.S. economy. That is exactly why we were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll. Unfortunately the Trump Administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well.
Meanwhile, the importance of workers being able to form a union and have a voice in their workplaces has been made abundantly clear during this pandemic. The protections provided by union contracts and the ability of unionized workers to speak out on the job without fear of employer retribution allow millions of front line essential workers to shape workplace policies that not only protect their health and safety on the job during this pandemic, but the general public as well. Moreover, union contracts also provide important protections for workers unable to work during the crisis. The CARES Act could be used to require mid-sized employers receiving taxpayer funding in response to the pandemic to remain neutral when their employees choose to exercise their legal rights to organize into a union. Again, the Trump Administration and the Federal Reserve are apparently choosing not to make any requirements related to neutrality in union organizing efforts.
Given the extraordinary nature of the support that the federal government is providing for the private sector through the CARES Act, the intent of the CARES Act to protect good jobs as a condition of receiving aid were a completely reasonable effort to ensure that taxpayers money is used well. We have been highly disappointed that the Trump Administration has, once again, shown complete disregard for the well-being of working families and failed to implement any requirements that would benefit workers.
As powerful voices and leaders in the U.S. Senate for working families, we urge you to take steps to ensure that the worker protection provisions are actually imposed on recipients of federal aid in response to the current pandemic. In addition, we urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump Administration has exploited to undermine them already. We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections.
Thank you again for your leadership in working to incorporate worker protections into the CARES Act and thank you in advance for working with us to ensure that those protections become reality for working families across the country going forward.
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Leaders of some of the largest labor unions in the United States are warning that the Trump administration is brushing aside the interests of workers in its distribution of trillions of dollars in coronavirus bailout funds and instead using the taxpayer money to further enrich wealthy corporate executives.
As funds authorized by the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act begin to fly out the door, the unions wrote in letters (pdf) to Democratic leaders Monday that they "are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients."
"Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve's lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers' right to organize," the unions wrote. "This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers."
"We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections."
The unions sent the letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.). The letters' signatories include Dan Mauer of the Communications Workers of America, Tor Cowan of the American Federation of Teachers, and John Gray of the Service Employees International Union.
The CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, contains some restrictions on corporate recipients of federal bailout funds--including limits on layoffs, stock buybacks, and executive compensation--but the law also empowers Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to waive those restrictions, effectively rendering them meaningless.
"We were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll," the unions wrote Monday. "Unfortunately the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid."
"The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well," the unions said.
The unions' warnings came as progressives continue to raise alarm about how the trillions of dollars in corporate bailout funds are being utilized, particularly given that the limited oversight mechanisms established by the CARES Act are not yet fully functional.
The Federal Reserve has committed to making public the names of companies that receive bailout money, but the central bank has not said it will release the terms and conditions of the taxpayer loans.
The unions demanded Monday that Democratic lawmakers work to guarantee that any future stimulus package contains enforceable restrictions to protect workers and prevent profiteering by corporate executives.
"We urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump administration has exploited to undermine them already," the labor leaders wrote.
"We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections," they added.
Read the full letter to Schumer and Brown:
On behalf of our millions of members, thank you for the leadership that you have shown during these extraordinarily challenging times as our country battles the COVID-19 pandemic. We especially want to thank you for your efforts to prioritize workers and worker protections during the drafting of the CARES Act and your continued efforts to provide help to the millions of workers across the U.S. who are suffering from this pandemic and the economic fallout.
Unfortunately, as the implementation of the legislation is carried out, and funds are beginning to flow to various employers and corporate entities, we are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients. Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve's lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers' right to organize. This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers.
We know that you share our belief that the most important step that Congress can take is to ensure that federal taxpayer funds are used first and foremost to keep employees on payroll. Ensuring that workers keep their jobs and the economic certainty those jobs provide is critical to blunting the impact of the economic fallout from this pandemic on the overall U.S. economy. That is exactly why we were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll. Unfortunately the Trump Administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well.
Meanwhile, the importance of workers being able to form a union and have a voice in their workplaces has been made abundantly clear during this pandemic. The protections provided by union contracts and the ability of unionized workers to speak out on the job without fear of employer retribution allow millions of front line essential workers to shape workplace policies that not only protect their health and safety on the job during this pandemic, but the general public as well. Moreover, union contracts also provide important protections for workers unable to work during the crisis. The CARES Act could be used to require mid-sized employers receiving taxpayer funding in response to the pandemic to remain neutral when their employees choose to exercise their legal rights to organize into a union. Again, the Trump Administration and the Federal Reserve are apparently choosing not to make any requirements related to neutrality in union organizing efforts.
Given the extraordinary nature of the support that the federal government is providing for the private sector through the CARES Act, the intent of the CARES Act to protect good jobs as a condition of receiving aid were a completely reasonable effort to ensure that taxpayers money is used well. We have been highly disappointed that the Trump Administration has, once again, shown complete disregard for the well-being of working families and failed to implement any requirements that would benefit workers.
As powerful voices and leaders in the U.S. Senate for working families, we urge you to take steps to ensure that the worker protection provisions are actually imposed on recipients of federal aid in response to the current pandemic. In addition, we urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump Administration has exploited to undermine them already. We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections.
Thank you again for your leadership in working to incorporate worker protections into the CARES Act and thank you in advance for working with us to ensure that those protections become reality for working families across the country going forward.
Leaders of some of the largest labor unions in the United States are warning that the Trump administration is brushing aside the interests of workers in its distribution of trillions of dollars in coronavirus bailout funds and instead using the taxpayer money to further enrich wealthy corporate executives.
As funds authorized by the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act begin to fly out the door, the unions wrote in letters (pdf) to Democratic leaders Monday that they "are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients."
"Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve's lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers' right to organize," the unions wrote. "This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers."
"We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections."
The unions sent the letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.). The letters' signatories include Dan Mauer of the Communications Workers of America, Tor Cowan of the American Federation of Teachers, and John Gray of the Service Employees International Union.
The CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, contains some restrictions on corporate recipients of federal bailout funds--including limits on layoffs, stock buybacks, and executive compensation--but the law also empowers Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to waive those restrictions, effectively rendering them meaningless.
"We were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll," the unions wrote Monday. "Unfortunately the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid."
"The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well," the unions said.
The unions' warnings came as progressives continue to raise alarm about how the trillions of dollars in corporate bailout funds are being utilized, particularly given that the limited oversight mechanisms established by the CARES Act are not yet fully functional.
The Federal Reserve has committed to making public the names of companies that receive bailout money, but the central bank has not said it will release the terms and conditions of the taxpayer loans.
The unions demanded Monday that Democratic lawmakers work to guarantee that any future stimulus package contains enforceable restrictions to protect workers and prevent profiteering by corporate executives.
"We urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump administration has exploited to undermine them already," the labor leaders wrote.
"We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections," they added.
Read the full letter to Schumer and Brown:
On behalf of our millions of members, thank you for the leadership that you have shown during these extraordinarily challenging times as our country battles the COVID-19 pandemic. We especially want to thank you for your efforts to prioritize workers and worker protections during the drafting of the CARES Act and your continued efforts to provide help to the millions of workers across the U.S. who are suffering from this pandemic and the economic fallout.
Unfortunately, as the implementation of the legislation is carried out, and funds are beginning to flow to various employers and corporate entities, we are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients. Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve's lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers' right to organize. This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers.
We know that you share our belief that the most important step that Congress can take is to ensure that federal taxpayer funds are used first and foremost to keep employees on payroll. Ensuring that workers keep their jobs and the economic certainty those jobs provide is critical to blunting the impact of the economic fallout from this pandemic on the overall U.S. economy. That is exactly why we were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll. Unfortunately the Trump Administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well.
Meanwhile, the importance of workers being able to form a union and have a voice in their workplaces has been made abundantly clear during this pandemic. The protections provided by union contracts and the ability of unionized workers to speak out on the job without fear of employer retribution allow millions of front line essential workers to shape workplace policies that not only protect their health and safety on the job during this pandemic, but the general public as well. Moreover, union contracts also provide important protections for workers unable to work during the crisis. The CARES Act could be used to require mid-sized employers receiving taxpayer funding in response to the pandemic to remain neutral when their employees choose to exercise their legal rights to organize into a union. Again, the Trump Administration and the Federal Reserve are apparently choosing not to make any requirements related to neutrality in union organizing efforts.
Given the extraordinary nature of the support that the federal government is providing for the private sector through the CARES Act, the intent of the CARES Act to protect good jobs as a condition of receiving aid were a completely reasonable effort to ensure that taxpayers money is used well. We have been highly disappointed that the Trump Administration has, once again, shown complete disregard for the well-being of working families and failed to implement any requirements that would benefit workers.
As powerful voices and leaders in the U.S. Senate for working families, we urge you to take steps to ensure that the worker protection provisions are actually imposed on recipients of federal aid in response to the current pandemic. In addition, we urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump Administration has exploited to undermine them already. We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections.
Thank you again for your leadership in working to incorporate worker protections into the CARES Act and thank you in advance for working with us to ensure that those protections become reality for working families across the country going forward.
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LATEST NEWS
'Cuts to the Bone': Leaked Trump Doc Shows Feds Plan to Slash Up to 50% of Agencies' Staff
"How does this help the economy become great again, MAGA?" asked one writer. "I'll wait..."
Mar 27, 2025
The Washington Post reported Thursday that a White House document shows U.S. officials are preparing to cut 8-50% of agency staff in "the first phase" of President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk's effort to gut the federal bureaucracy—eliciting a fresh wave of outrage directed at them and their Department of Government Efficiency.
The document only covers 22 agencies and, according to the Post, "several people familiar with the document stressed that planning remains fluid," a sentiment echoed by Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, in an email.
"It's no secret the Trump administration is dedicated to downsizing the federal bureaucracy and cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. This document is a pre-deliberative draft and does not accurately reflect final reduction in force plans," Fields told the newspaper. "When President Trump's Cabinet secretaries are ready to announce reduction in force plans, they will make those announcements to their respective workforces at the appropriate time."
When Trump took office, there were around 2.3 million federal workers. The leaked document—last updated Tuesday—includes the following potential personnel cuts:
- 30% at the Department of Commerce;
- 50% at the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
- 25% at the Department of the Interior;
- 8% at the Department of Justice;
- 30% at the Department of the Treasury;
- 10% at the Environmental Protection Agency;
- 33% at the Internal Revenue Service;
- 43% at the Small Business Administration; and
- 28% at the National Science Foundation.
"Cuts have already been announced at some agencies, including the Education Department, which said this month that it would be reducing its staff by half. The document did not list those reductions among its totals," according to the paper. "It also did not specify staff reduction goals for certain agencies, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs."
Trump and Musk's "DOGE-Manufactured chaos" is already impacting both federal employees and Americans who rely on them. At the Social Security Administration—which aims to oust roughly 7,000 staffers, bringing the agency down to 50,000—beneficiaries are dealing with website problems and hourslong wait times for phone services.
Responding to the Post's reporting on social media, writer and podcaster Wajahat Ali asked: "How does this help the economy become great again, MAGA? I'll wait..."
Cuts to the bone: “the Department of Housing and Urban Development as cutting half of its roughly 8,300-person staff, while the Interior Department would shed nearly 1 in 4 of the workers…the IRS would cut nearly 1 in 3.” @ELaserDavies www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
[image or embed]
— Rocky Kistner (@therockyfiles.bsky.social) March 27, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Brian Donlon, the retired head of programming at Scripps News, tied the looming job cuts to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led agenda for a far-right takeover of the federal government, from which Trump unsuccessfully tried to distance himself while on the campaign trail.
"I have been rewatching Trump campaign rallies (I watched most live while running programming at Scripps News)," he said. "I can't find any references to an austerity budget or a downsized federal government. Project 2025 however does. Will keep looking."
Bluesky user J. Offir, who has a Ph.D. in social psychology, said that "my main concerns are health, education, and the environment (all of which relate to public health) but the casualties of this war are everywhere."
Offir also noted "the hell" at agencies under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—which is now led by conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who earlier Thursday announced a major restructuring and 20,000 job cuts, including employees who took the administration's infamous "Fork in the Road" offer.
Take a look at the size of the federal workforce to help contextualize today's news about planned layoffs at HHS.
[image or embed]
— STAT (@statnews.com) March 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
"This announcement is shocking. There is no way that HHS will be able to continue providing the lifesaving services and research it is mandated to provide after losing a quarter of its workforce between the layoffs and early separation packages," said Jennifer Jones, the director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in a statement.
Jones explained that "these are people who ensure our medications and food supplies are safe, help protect us against infectious diseases, and conduct research to treat disease and help people live longer, healthier lives. HHS staff also oversee Medicaid and Medicare, the health insurance programs critical for low-income and elderly Americans as well as those with disabilities."
"Keep in mind, these cuts are brought to you by a man who has made a career out of peddling fringe conspiracy theories and misinformation. He is part of an administration that is incompetent and corrupt. He's known for his debunked anti-vaccine rhetoric, and his response to the deadly measles outbreak in Texas, which has spread to other states, has been nothing short of inept," she added. "Secretary Kennedy minimizes this action as 'a painful period' for the agencies, ignoring the pain that will be inflicted on everyone in this country."
FEC Rejects Trump Campaign's Allegations of Washington Post Bias
The commission voted 4-0 to dismiss the complaint against the newspaper owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos—who donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration and cracked down on criticism of the president at the paper.
Mar 27, 2025
The Federal Election Commission on Thursday issued a unanimous decision dismissing a complaint by U.S. President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign accusing The Washington Post of "illegal corporate in-kind contributions" to then-Vice President Kamala Harris' failed Democratic presidential campaign.
The campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.org reported that the FEC commissioners voted 4-0 to reject the Trump team's allegation that the Post bought social media ads in a bid to boost news articles critical of the Republican nominee.
Lawyers for the Post—which is owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, who donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration and sat with fellow oligarchs Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg at the January swearing-in, and who has cracked down on criticism of the president and his Cabinet at the paper—called the Trump campaign's allegations "speculative and demonstrably false."
As OpenSecrets.org's Dave Levinthal wrote:
Trump's campaign had alleged that The Washington Post was conducting a "dark money corporate campaign in opposition to President Donald J. Trump" and used "its own online advertising efforts to promote Kamala Harris' presidential candidacy... Trump's campaign also argued that the Post was not entitled to what's known as a "press exemption" for political content because it was "not functioning within the scope of a legitimate press entity."
The FEC general counsel's office disagreed and advised the commissioners to dismiss the complaint based on "an internal 'scoring criteria' for agency resources," Levinthal explained, adding that "the Post 'appears to have been acting within its legitimate press function and thus its activities are protected' by federal election laws' exemption for overtly journalistic activities."
"Given that low rating and the apparent applicability of the press exemption, we recommend that the commission dismiss the complaint, consistent with the commission's prosecutorial discretion to determine the proper ordering of its priorities and use of agency resources," the office advised.
Brazilian Left Welcomes Trial of Bolsonaro for Alleged Coup Attempt
"If Brazil had tried the crimes of the military dictatorship, it certainly wouldn't be trying another coup attempt now," said one leftist lawmaker. "We can't fix the past, but we can write a new story!"
Mar 27, 2025
Brazilian leftists including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hailed Wednesday's unanimous ruling by a panel of the Federal Supreme Court compelling former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and seven associates to stand trial for alleged crimes including an attempted coup d'état following his loss to Lula in the 2022 presidential election.
The panel voted 5-0 to accept a complaint filed by the office of Brazilian Attorney General Jorge Messias to indict Bolsonaro, former Brazilian Intelligence Agency Director Alexandre Ramagem, former Navy Commander Almir Garnier, former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, former Institutional Security Bureau Minister Augusto Heleno, former presidential aide Mauro Cid, former Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, and former Defense Minister and presidential Chief of Staff Walter Braga Netto.
Bolsonaro will stand trial for allegedly attempting a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, violent damage of state property, and other charges. A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years' imprisonment under Brazilian law. However, if convicted on all counts, Bolsonaro and his co-defendants could face decades behind bars.
"It's clear that the former president tried to stage a coup."
The eight defendants are accused of being the "crucial core" of a plan to overturn the results of the 2022 election, which Lula narrowly won in a runoff. Like U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020, Bolsonaro and many of his supporters falsely claimed the contest was "stolen" by the opposition. And like in the U.S., those claims fueled mob attacks on government buildings. Around 1,500 Bolsonaro supporters were arrested in the days following the storming of Congress and the presidential offices.
In February, Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet indicted Bolsonaro and 33 others for their alleged roles in a plot to overturn the election that included poisoning Lula and also assassinating Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexadre de Moraes, one of the five judges on the panel that issued Wednesday's ruling.
"It's clear that the former president tried to stage a coup," Lula, who is on a four-day state visit to Japan, said in response to the high court's decision. "It is clear from all the evidence that he tried to contribute to my assassination, assassination of the vice president, assassination of the former president of the Brazilian Electoral Court, and everybody knows what happened."
Lula said that Bolsonaro "knows what he did... and he knows that it was not right," adding that "he should prove his innocence... and he will go free."
"Now, he has no way of proving that he is innocent, since he has no way of proving that he did not attempt the coup," Lula added. "I just hope the justice system will do justice."
The former president is already banned from running for any office until 2030 due to his abuse of power related to baseless claims of electoral fraud.
Bolsonaro and his supporters have been pushing for amnesty, an effort Lula recently said "means he's basically saying, 'Guys, I'm guilty.'"
Erika Hilton, a member of the Chamber of Deputies—the lower house of Brazil's Congress—representing Rio de Janeiro in the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), said Thursday on social media, "NO AMNESTY FOR COUP PLOTTERS!"
"We cannot allow these people to be acquitted," Hilton stressed. "This is because the Bolsonarists in Congress want to pardon them, just as the coup plotters of 1964 were pardoned. And Brazil cannot make that mistake again."
Hilton was referring to the U.S.-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected leftist government of President João Goulart and installed 21 years of military rule characterized by forced disappearances, torture—sometimes taught by U.S. operatives—and extrajudicial murder of at least hundreds of people.
Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is a member of Lula's Workers' Party (PT), was tortured by the regime. Bolsonaro, an army officer during the dictatorship, has prasied the military regime while taunting its victims and lauding one of its leading torturers as a "national hero."
Other leftist lawmakers and observers invoked the dictatorship in urging the government to deliver justice to Bolsonaro and his alleged accomplices.
"If Brazil had tried the crimes of the military dictatorship, it certainly wouldn't be trying another coup attempt now," argued Helder Salomão, a PT deputy from Espírito Santo. "It's also true that people like Bolsonaro wouldn't go this far. We can't fix the past, but we can write a new story!"
Ricardo Pereira, a professor and journalist, said on social media that "a despicable figure" like Bolsonaro would not have risen to power had Brazil tried dictatorship-era criminals, adding that "we are belatedly cleaning up history, but at least we are doing this."
Addressing reports that Bolsonaro may attempt to flee to Argentina—which is ruled by right-wing President Javier Milei—or the United States, where he applied for a visa amid his mounting legal troubles in 2023, Ivan Valente, a PSOL deputy representing São Paulo, said: "Thinking about escaping? It won't work, fugitive, you'll get jailed!"
A date for Bolsonaro's trial has not yet been set. The chair of the Supreme Court panel is expected to issue a legal framework within days.
"Then, [Moraes] prepares a report and requests a trial date," Eloísa Machado, a law professor at the Fundacão Getulio Vargas University in São Paulo, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "After this stage, prosecutors and defense attorneys will present their final arguments before the court rules on whether to acquit or convict."
Responding to Wednesday's ruling, Bolsonaro told the Supreme Court justices, "If I go to jail, I will give you a lot of work."
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