Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a meeting that was to decide whether former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can be his successor's chief of staff, according to AP. The delay came three days after the lower house voted to begin impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. She's accused of using accounting tricks in managing the federal budget. Rousseff appointed Silva to the chief of staff job on March 16 to help her battle the impeachment effort. But last month, Supreme Court Judge Gilmar Mendes temporarily banned Silva's nomination to the Cabinet post, saying it was an attempt to shield him from possible detention in corruption probes. Under Brazilian law, only the Supreme Court can authorize the investigation, imprisonment and trial of Cabinet members and legislators. On Wednesday, Justice Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki requested that two other motions also banning Silva from assuming a cabinet position be judged tougher with Mendes' earlier ruling. Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski said a new date will be set to rule on Silva's appointment. The full court will make the final decision.
