Brazilian senators pushed President Dilma Rousseff a step closer to being ousted from office as a special committee decided on Friday there are legal grounds to impeach her.
With a tally of 15 against 5, the Senate committee backed a report saying there is enough evidence to try Rousseff on allegations she used illegal financing to manage the federal budget. The committee president, Senator Raimundo Lira, abstained from voting after saying he would only cast a ballot to break a tie. The lower house last month agreed to send the impeachment motion to the upper chamber by an overwhelming majority.
