Brazil’s attorney general formally has accused President Michel Temer of corruption, making him the first sitting president in Latin America’s largest nation to face criminal charges.

Attorney General Rodrigo Janot’s accusation is the latest salvo in an intensifying showdown between Temer and justice officials who are building a corruption case that reaches to the highest levels.

The case now goes to the lower Chamber of Deputies in Congress, which must decide whether it has merit. If two-thirds of the legislature decides that it does, then the president will be suspended for up to 180 days while a trial is conducted. House Speaker Rodrigo Maia, an ally of Temer, would be president in the interim.