The country transitioned to a democracy during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In October 1990, after Passarinho had returned to the Senate, President Fernando Collor de Mello to his Cabinet as Minister of Justice, where he served from October 1990 until April 1992. Passarinho remained one of Collor de Mello's allies in the National Senate, but failed to stop the President's impeachment later in 1992. later retired from the Senate in 1995.
