Overview

• Tourism minister Celso Sabino remains in office after handing Lula a resignation letter, with his defense in the party case due today and the case’s rapporteur poised to recommend expulsion.
• União Brasil’s national executive will vote Wednesday on whether to expel Sabino for party infidelity, a decision that requires support from three fifths of its members.
• Leaders are also weighing dissolving the party’s Pará directory, which is aligned with Sabino, as part of a broader effort to enforce the break with the government.
• Forty-six of the party’s 59 deputies signed a letter backing Sabino’s permanence, reflecting calculations that proximity to Lula benefits 2026 prospects, especially in the North and Northeast.
• In a parallel dispute, Sports Minister André Fufuca of the PP joined Lula at a Maranhão event despite pressure from PP president Ciro Nogueira, who says Fufuca must leave the post.