BRASILIA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A Brazilian congressional committee on Monday voted in favor of moving forward with the impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.

The 65-member Special Impeachment Committee of the Chamber of Deputies voted 38-27 in favor of an impeachment, paving the way for the full chamber to vote on the matter.

The vote in the lower house of parliament is expected on Sunday. If two-thirds of the chamber, or 372 of 513 deputies, vote in favor, the motion then goes to the Senate, which would rule whether Rousseff should be removed.

The committee voting results were not a surprise. Local media reported that the government was already prepared for such an outcome and was focusing on gathering support for the full chamber voting.