SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's Senate has rejected a decision of the country's top court and returned a suspended lawmaker to his post.

Ex-presidential candidate Aecio Neves was returned to the Senate by a 44-to-26 vote Tuesday, weeks after Brazil's Supreme Court suspended him and ordered him put under house arrest. The conservative politician who barely lost the presidency in 2014 was accused of obstruction of justice in a corruption case.

Politicians have a special jurisdiction in Brazil's top court and cannot be prosecuted by low courts, but lawmakers argue the judiciary cannot prevail over the legislature.

The vote is likely to escalate tensions between scandal-tainted politicians and anti-corruption judges.

Neves is a key ally of President Michel Temer, who like many politicians has been caught up in Brazil's sprawling "Car Wash" corruption case.