Brazil's sports minister resigns, president's office says

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff smiles during the launching ceremony of the third stage of Minha Casa Minha Vida Program, at the Planalto Presidential Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that he believes Rousseff, his embattled successor and protege, can survive mounting pressure in Congress for her impeachment. Rousseff recently appointed Silva as her chief of staff in a much-discussed move that still must be confirmed by Brazil's top court. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) (The Associated Press)

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Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gives a news conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, March 28, 2016. Lula da Silva said he believes his embattled successor and protege can survive mounting pressure in Congress for her impeachment. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) (The Associated Press)

Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a news conference with foreign journalists in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, March 28, 2016. Lula da Silva has been recently linked to a sprawling corruption investigation with ties to the Brazilian oil giant Petrobras. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) (The Associated Press)

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil's sports minister is resigning four month before the country hosts the Olympics, the office of embattled President Dilma Rousseff says, amid continuing uncertainty over the fate of six other Cabinet ministers.

Rousseff's office announced late Wednesday that George Hilton had asked to leave the position and would be temporarily replaced by a top ministry official.

It capped weeks of confusion about whether he would stay on as minister. Hilton left his party after it pulled out of Rousseff's fragile governing coalition this month, in an apparent bid to hold onto his job. But a top Rousseff aide said last week that Hilton would resign, although his ministry declined to confirm it at the time.

A similar back-and-forth also affects six other Cabinet positions held by members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, known by the Portuguese initials PMDB, which decamped from Rousseff's coalition on Tuesday. Party leaders said all their Cabinet ministers, as well as hundreds of other federal government employees, would have to resign immediately.

But Agriculture Minister Katia Abreu said on Twitter late Wednesday that she didn't plan on leaving either the government or the party. Her tweet suggested the other five PMDB Cabinet ministers held the same stand.

Abreu is a close confident of Rousseff.

It wasn't immediately clear how the PMDB — Brazil's largest party — would respond to the minister's defiance.

Brazilian news media have suggested Rousseff planned to offer the vacated ministries to the six smaller parties that remain in her coalition in a bid to help her secure their support in an upcoming Congressional vote on impeachment proceedings against her. Rousseff faces impeachment on charges she violated fiscal rules and needs 172 out of 513 votes in the lower house to bury the proceedings.

But the defection of the PMDB, which has been a key part of the governing coalitions since Brazil emerged from military dictatorship in 1985, appears to have made it more difficult for her to avoid impeachment.

Rousseff's approval rating has plummeted amid the worst recession in decades, rising unemployment and an outbreak of the Zika virus, which has been linked to a spike in cases of a rare birth defect.