Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by President Dilma Rousseff to block the impeachment process against her.
The high court vote early Friday, following a lengthy emergency session that began Thursday, clears the way for a crucial Congressional vote on Rousseff, whose tenuous grip on power seems to be slipping away.
With the court ruling, lawmakers in the lower house of Congress are set to vote Sunday on whether to send Rousseff to an impeachment trial. Latest counts indicate the lawmakers are close to the two-thirds majority needed to approve the motion.
If the vote passes Sunday, the Senate will have the authority to open a trial against Rousseff, who is accused of illegal government accounting tricks to boost her re-election chances.
Rousseff denies wrongdoing and has dismissed the impeachment effort as baseless.