Michel Temer's tenure as the 37th president of Brazil began on 12 May 2016 and ended on 1 January 2019.

It began when Temer as vice-president, temporarily assumed the powers and duties of the presidency after the temporary removal of president Dilma Rousseff's powers and duties, as a result of the acceptance of the impeachment process by the Federal Senate. Once the process was concluded, on 31 August 2016, Temer assumed the presidency (upon Rousseff's removal from office). He was succeeded by Jair Bolsonaro.

Temer became president in the midst of a serious economic crisis in the country. At his inauguration, he stated that his government would be a reformist one. During his administration, several economic measures were approved, such as the control of public spending, through Constitutional Amendment No. 95, which imposed limits on future federal government spending, the 2017 labour reform and the Outsourcing Law. There was also a proposed social security reform, which the government failed to push through. Changes were made in the social field, such as the completion and inauguration of part of the São Francisco River transposition project, the reform of high school education and the establishment of the National Common Curriculum Base.

While Temer was in office, the involvement of allies, ministers and the president himself in corruption scandals caused controversy. Despite this, the government managed to maintain a solid base in Congress, which made it possible to approve reforms "necessary to stimulate economic growth", according to him. However, the administration was accused of backtracking by organizations and experts, particularly in the social and environmental areas and in the indigenous issues. According to opinion polls by different institutes, the government had the lowest popular approval rating in the country's history.

According to data from the Central Bank, the IBGE, Caged and the São Paulo Stock Exchange, during his two years in office, the government reduced the interest rate from 14.25% to 6.50% a year; inflation fell from 9.32% to 2.76%; the unemployment rate rose from 11.2% to 13.1%; the dollar rose from 3.47 to 3.60 reais and the Bovespa index rose from 48,471 points to 85,190 points. Temer benefited from the improvement in his government's economic indices to record a video talking about good news in the economy and comparing it to the economic data from the Dilma government. "With these resources, the government will close the accounts for 2018 and guarantee compliance with the so-called golden rule," said Temer, adding that "Petrobras reached the highest market value in its history, 312.5 billion reais" and that Brazil "was considered by 2,500 top executives from around the world to be the second main destination for foreign investment in the main industrial sectors". Temer also said that in 2017, the Correios made a profit of 667 million reais. "This, by the way, is the first profit since 2013, when the company began to record consecutive losses until 2016," said the president.

Inauguration Temer took office twice, the first time as vice-president alongside Rousseff in 2015, and the second time in 2016 when he took over the government permanently.

Inauguration as interim president

By 55 votes to 22, at 6:34 a.m. on 12 May 2016, the Federal Senate decided to open impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, based on the indications that she had committed a crime of responsibility. On the same day, Dilma was officially informed of the Senate's decision and her consequent removal from the presidency of the Republic until the trial of the process. Vice President Temer was also notified that he would take over the presidency on an interim basis for a maximum of 180 days. The government's slogan was simply the positivist phrase "Order and Progress", as in the national flag.

First days in office On 12 May 2016, Temer appointed Henrique Meirelles to the Ministry of Finance, who was seen as an advocate of a more orthodox position in economics, unlike his predecessor in the post, Nelson Barbosa, more identified with a developmentalist line and one of those responsible for creating the new economic matrix in the Dilma government (based on the tripod of low interest rates, a competitive exchange rate and "investment-friendly" fiscal consolidation). Meirelles defended less government intervention in the economy and greater openness to foreign trade, as well as supporting spending controls to improve public accounts, as a way of providing stability in the debt/GDP ratio in the future and increasing investor confidence in the Brazilian economy.

In an interview with the TV programme on 15 May 2016, Temer responded to criticism about the lack of women in his team and said that he still intended to have at least four women in the ministries. In addition, his wife, Marcela Temer, should carry out all the social activities in his government. Regarding social security, he announced changes so that pensioners would not suffer in the future, but assured that these measures would not affect acquired rights, although these are not always affected by transitional rules. Temer also declared that he would maintain social programmes, guaranteeing the survival of the neediest, even if he had to cut funds from other sectors. Regarding re-election, he said that he did not intend to run, but that he could eventually be a candidate.

One of Temer's first measures was to abolish the Ministries of Culture, Communications and Women, Racial Equality and Human Rights. He also abolished the Military House of the presidency, the Ministry of Agrarian Development and the Office of the Comptroller General. The Ministry of Culture was merged with the Ministry of Education, while the Ministry of Women, Racial Equality and Human Rights was attached to the Ministry of Justice and Citizenship. The Office of the Comptroller General was transformed into the Ministry of Transparency, Supervision and Control. Many artists and intellectuals, such as Wagner Moura and Wolf Maya, spoke out against the end of the Ministry of Culture. On 21 May, Temer recreated the ministry, under the command of Marcelo Calero, who until then had been appointed Secretary of Culture, linked to the Ministry of Education.

The economic team announced cuts in commissioned positions as soon as it was sworn in. Romero Jucá, Minister of Planning, said that the government intended to cut up to 4,000 positions of trust and gratified functions, which would represent 18.4% of the total. Henrique Meirelles, the Minister of Finance, emphasized that balancing public accounts was essential to restore the country's confidence in the economy and to stimulate investments capable of promoting the country's growth and the creation of jobs.

According to Meirelles, the government's account deficit could exceed 96.6 billion reais in 2016. He did not rule out a tax increase, but assured that this should be a temporary measure. In his opinion, a minimum retirement age is fundamental to guaranteeing the financing of Social Security. The minister also said that the government could review subsidies (incentives given to different sectors), but without hurting acquired rights, and that the states' debt to the Union would need to be settled.

Although he didn't want his government to be represented by a parliamentarian close to Eduardo Cunha, Temer eventually gave in to pressure from known as the – a bloc of 225 MPs from different parties, whose support was needed to pass important amendments, such as the pension reform. On 18 May, he appointed André Moura, a PSC deputy from Sergipe, who was involved in six inquiries at the Supreme Court – with charges ranging from embezzlement to murder – and in the Car Wash investigations, for active and passive corruption and gang formation, to the leadership of the government in the Chamber.

On the same day, the administration received criticism from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The organization expressed concern about the absence of blacks and women – who represent more than half of the Brazilian population – among the ministers appointed. The statement pointed out that the lack of women had not happened since the time of the military dictatorship and considered the elimination of the Ministry of Women, Racial Equality and Human Rights to be "alarming". It also cited the announcement of cuts to social programmes, pointing out that Brazil has signed the Protocol of San Salvador, which prohibits measures that reduce human, social and cultural rights. Temer, however, denied cuts to social programmes.

Criticism also came from opposition leaders in Brazil. The leader of the REDE party, deputy Alessandro Molon (RJ), said that the first measures announced would cut social rights, considering that they represented many setbacks and reversals. Molon criticized cuts to social policies in the area of education, the extinction of the Ministry of Culture and the lack of women in the government's top echelon. Congressman Edmilson Rodrigues (PSOL-PA) criticized the cuts to the programme, announced by the new Minister of Cities, Bruno Araújo. Minister of Foreign Affairs José Serra's decision to grant a diplomatic passport to Assembly of God pastor Samuel Pereira, who was also accused in the Car Wash operation, was condemned by parliamentarians, including PCdoB leader Daniel Almeida (BA).

In a ceremony held at the Planalto Palace on 24 August, Temer defended the planned labour reform and said that its objective was not to remove rights, but to maintain jobs, because nothing hurts human dignity more than unemployment. BY July, labour minister Ronaldo Nogueira had already said that the Executive was trying to transform the CLT into "simplified and clear" legislation, but, according to him, without taking away workers' "basic rights". The labour reform would favour collective bargaining on issues such as wages and the length of workers' working hours, indicating that the CLT could be made more flexible on these points. Ronaldo also said that the government's proposal would include the regulation of "specialized service" contracts, referring to the possible outsourcing of all services, including the company's core activities. Currently, only middle activities could be outsourced.

Presidential inauguration

On 31 August 2016, Temer was sworn in as president of Brazil at an inauguration ceremony in the National Congress, following Rousseff's conviction in the impeachment trial. Renan Calheiros, president of the National Congress, declared Temer inaugurated for a term lasting from 31 August 2016 to 1 January 2019. The ceremony lasted 12 minutes and there was no speech by the president. In his first official statement, he said: "We are now inaugurating a new phase in which we have a horizon of two years and four months. And it is hoped that, in these two years and four months, we will do what we have been boasting about, which is to put Brazil back on track".

After being sworn in as president on 31 August, Temer delivered a five minute speech. Above all, he defended the social security and labour reforms: "To guarantee the payment of pensions, we will have to reform social security. Without reform, in a few years the government won't be able to pay the pensioners" and "we have to modernize the labour legislation, to guarantee the current ones and generate new jobs," he said. He stated that the foundations of his government were social programmes, administrative efficiency, the resumption of economic growth, job creation, legal security and "the pacification of the country". Regarding the impeachment of Rousseff, Temer said that the process was democratic and that it was necessary to refute the accusation of a coup. He also stressed that he was cutting government spending.

Ministerial Cabinet