By Paul Kane & Perry Bacon Jr. Washington Post
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) announced Wednesday that he would temporarily step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee days after being admonished for breaking House rules by accepting corporate-financed travel.
The longtime incumbent from Harlem who was facing a growing wave of opposition from within his party said he didnt want the ethics probe into his activities to affect fellow Democrats running in next falls House elections.
In order to avoid my colleagues having to defend me during their elections I have this morning sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asking her to grant me a leave of absence until such time as the ethics committee completes its work Rangel said.
Citing the ongoing probe the 20-term incumbent declined to take reporters questions.
Rangel 79 becomes the highest ranking House member to resign a leadership position amid an ethical scandal in four years since then-Reps. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Bob Ney (R-Ohio) stepped down as respectively majority leader and administration committee chairman amid the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation.
His decision was an abrupt shift from only 12 hours earlier when -- following a 40-minute meeting with Pelosi -- he defiantly declared he would remain in his post.
Rangel did not state clearly Wednesday whether he was seeking to leave the committee altogether while the inquiry is ongoing or simply to vacate the chairmanship. Nor did he discuss who would replace him. He said he had previously offered to take a leave of absence because of the controversy and implied that Pelosi had not accepted that offer.
Rangels resignation was effectively forced by Congressional Republicans and a growing group of Democrats many of them wary of defending the lawmaker against GOP attacks. The House GOP had prepared a non-binding resolution this week calling for Rangel to resign and by late Tuesday it appeared to have enough support to be approved by the House which would have forced Democratic leaders to push out Rangel.
House Democrats have grown increasingly leery of Rangel since the House ethics committee admonished him last week.
Among those voicing concern is Rep. Artur Davis (Ala.) a rising star in the Congressional Black Caucus -- which Rangel co-founded nearly 40 years ago. On Tuesday Davis became the first caucus member to urge Rangel to give up his gavel.
Representative Rangel has had a long and distinguished career and I respect his leadership but I believe Congress needs to do more to restore the public trust Davis who is running for Alabama governor this year said Tuesday. An ethics committee admonishment is a serious event and Representative Rangel should do the right thing and step aside.
The ethics committee reprimanded Rangel after concluding that his staff was aware that corporations such as American Airlines financed his 2007
and 2008 trips to Caribbean resorts for conferences. That broke new House rules forbidding such privately financed travel. While the committee could not conclude that Rangel knew of the backing the panel found him culpable for his staffs knowledge.
Since then more than 10 Democrats have distanced themselves from Rangel giving back money he donated to their campaigns or saying they would back a Republican-sponsored resolution calling for him to resign his post.
Many senior Democrats remain behind Rangel for now citing their belief that the Caribbean ethics charge does not warrant such a steep penalty. Instead they say they will await the outcome of a more serious inquiry.
The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct as the panel is formally known is looking into allegations that Rangel failed to pay taxes on a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic used his congressional office to raise money for the wing of a New York college named in his honor revised financial disclosure forms that show more than $500000 in unreported wealth and used a rent-controlled apartment for his political committees.
The ethics committee has not yet said when it will issue rulings on these other controversies but they could result in stronger admonishments that would make it difficult for Democrats to put Rangel back in as the chairman.
We havent finished the whole ethics review so we ought to see where that ends up said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.).
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.) a friend of Rangels defended the lawmaker saying the ethics committee should not have rebuked Rangel for his staffs knowledge of the Caribbean conferences. Punishing a lawmaker who did not knowingly violate the rules Meeks said was a standard Ive never heard before.
Several House Democrats lamented such a controversy in an already precarious electoral year.
Voters in New Hampshire care a lot about honesty and effective government said Rep. Paul W. Hodes (D-N.H.) who is running for the Senate in his state and called for Rangel to step aside. I think we are in a zero-tolerance atmosphere.
Staff writer Ben Pershing contributed to this report.
