Brazil‘s congress votes to expel Dirceu

Brazil‘s Congress voted early Thursday to expel the president‘s former chief-of-staff and bar him from holding public office for 8 years amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the government.

Once one of the most powerful men in the government, Dirceu resigned as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva‘s chief-of-staff in June, after being accused of running a scheme to bribe lawmakers to support the government on key votes in Congress.

After resigning, Dirceu returned to his seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Brazil‘s lower house, where he tried to out maneuver the impeachment charges through a series of appeals to the Supreme Court.

By choosing to fight the impeachment rather than resign, Dirceu has lost his right to run for public office for a period of eight years.