An opposition-leaning impeachment commission that would kick off the proceedings in the lower house was annulled following its creation last week by secret ballot.The top court ruled late Thursday that a new selection of lawmakers for that commission must be made.
Ruling in a suit brought Rousseff's allies, Brazil's top court decided that two key aspects of the formation of the impeachment commission election were irregular: Lawmakers shouldn't have voted for two different slates of deputies when deciding who should be on the commission, and that vote shouldn't have been secret.
The court's decision is another blow to Rousseff's rival and key impeachment advocate, lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.
All the overruled decisions were made by Cunha, who himself faces corruption and obstruction of justice charges. He's accused by federal prosecutors of accepting at least $5 million in bribes in connection to a kickback scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras.
Impeachment proceedings were introduced in Brazil's lower house against Rousseff earlier this month on allegations that she broke fiscal laws by using funds from state-run banks to fill budget gaps. She denies any wrongdoing.
The lower house must first create an impeachment commission that will vote on whether to allow the full house to cast ballots on the measure. If two-thirds of the full house votes to impeach Rousseff, the measure would then go to the Senate which would determine if she should be permanently removed.
In another decision helping Rousseff, the Supreme Court decided that the Senate has the right to reject the continuation of the impeachment process by a simple majority even if two thirds of the full lower house approves it. Rousseff has more support in the Senate than she does in the lower house.
However, if the impeachment process is accepted by the Senate, Rousseff would have leave her office for up to six months.
An official close to Rousseff told The Associated Press that her government celebrated the Supreme Court decision, "but we want to be sure that the Senate ... won't turn its back on Rousseff now."
"There is relief, but this is far from over. The third quarter of 2016 will still be very difficult," the source said on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak about the matter.
Claudio Couto, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation university in Sao Paulo, said that the "relief for Rousseff is obvious, but there is still too much uncertainty."
"What the Supreme Court decision showed is that the lower house doesn't have a final say on anything. But the best bet to make at this moment on Brazil's 2016 is to make no bets," he said.
Brazil's congress goes into recess next week and is unlikely to take any more action on the impeachment process before February.
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