Lawmakers in Brazil vote to impeach President Dilma Rousseff

Brazilian lawmakers celebrate having enough votes to proceed with Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.
(Image credit: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images)

On Sunday, Brazil's lower house of Congress voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, accused by critics of moving around state funds to make the economy look healthier.

Rousseff, who said she isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before, has not been charged with any crime or named in any corruption scandals. At least 342 of 513 deputies voted in favor of impeachment, and the measure now heads to the Senate. Rousseff will be suspended if a simple majority of the Senate votes to put her on trial. It's been less than two years since Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, was reelected, and her supporters say this is a coup attempt.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.