By Alan K. Ota CQ Staff
Charles B. Rangel his voice unmistakable welcomed Speaker Nancy Pelosi into his corner hideaway office at the Capitol last week. Soon afterward he ushered in Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus .
The visits came just hours after the 39-year veteran from Harlem weathered another Republican effort on the House floor to force him out of his chairmanship of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee until an ethics investigation of his personal finances and fundraising ends. But there was no mention during the consultations of the still-expanding probe the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has been conducting since it empaneled an investigative subcommittee last fall.
Instead aides said later Pelosi and Baucus spent all their time discussing plans for health care legislation and thereby sent a clear message that top Democrats in the partys congressional hierarchy are behind Rangel at least for now.
Rangel continues to lead a powerhouse committee with jurisdiction that touches the lives of virtually every American. He meets with fellow lawmakers from both parties strategizes with business leaders and other stakeholders and promotes Obama administration priorities. He has continued to host fundraisers the most recent featuring Tony Bennett serenading guests with I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at Tavern on the Green in New Yorks Central Park.
And two days before the most recent floor vote on his future Rangel visited a New York subway construction site with Alan Krueger the assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy to highlight the local impact of the economic stimulus program.
But while Democrats in Congress and the White House have continued to show public support for Rangel the once unyielding and defiant chairman has maintained a lower profile on the partys legislative priorities than was generally anticipated when he took charge of Ways and Means two years ago. And he has not had the fundraising success expected of such a powerful chairman raising questions about whether he will be a liability in next years midterm election for a party that regained power by pledging to bring an end to a culture of corruption."
Democratic leaders pointedly emphasize the importance of the ethics committees judgment. Even while publicly standing behind him they make no promises of support that extend beyond the probes completion.
Hes doing a great job as chair of one of the three committees working on health care. The thing is to get the job done" Pelosi said in an interview. But she deflected a question about Rangels role next year when Democrats plan to move legislation extending some but not all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Im looking at next week or the week after. Were just focused on this Afghanistan jobs . . . the agenda right now" the Speaker said.
When he took the gavel at Ways and Means Rangel vowed to change the tax code to limit deductions claimed by companies and the wealthiest taxpayers cut the corporate tax rate and extend tax breaks for the poor and the middle class. But under constant partisan fire hes had little chance to advance such priorities or demonstrate his prowess as a dealmaker.
Pelosis leadership style is part of the reason because she has made herself the final arbiter in the House on fiscal matters. It was her decision for example to emphasize public works over tax breaks in the economic stimulus package earlier this year. And she gave prime legislative responsibility for the stimulus to Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey of Wisconsin leaving Rangel in a supporting role.
Similarly Rangel was given a modest role on what Pelosi called the three pillars" energy health and education outlined in the Democrats budget blueprint. The leading responsibility for the Houses climate change bill and much of the drafting of its health care overhaul went to a longtime Pelosi ally Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman of California.
Rangel moved quickly to complete his panels piece of the health overhaul holding a 16-hour markup on its section in July. Since then however either Waxman or Baucus has held center stage. And those chairmen not Rangel are the leading candidates to chair any conference committee on health care.
Initiatives on public schools and higher education were put entirely in the hands of another Californian in Pelosis inner circle Education and Labor Chairman George Miller . When Pelosi wanted to rebut GOP claims that the health overhaul would hurt business she looked not to Rangel but to Miller and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut co-chairs of the partys Policy and Steering Committee. Pelosi opened one of their sessions in the Ways and Means hearing room and the Speaker placed herself in the chairmans seat on the dais.
And last week when Pelosi floated the prospect of another stimulus package she said that a team of advisers Rangel among them would develop such a package.
He already has less power than predecessors like Bill Thomas Bill Archer and Dan Rostenkowski" said Wendy Schiller a political scientist at Brown University.
Last weeks House vote on Rangel marked the fourth time Democrats have been called to his defense. Each of the resolutions two to censure him in 2008 and the most recent pair to take away his gavel until the ethics investigation is complete have failed. For the first time though last week a pair of Democrats Mississippis Gene Taylor and Travis W. Childers voted with the Republicans. But six Republicans joined with the other Democrats in successfully scuttling the resolution by referring it to the ethics committee.
It was the latest turn in a probe that began with The New York Times reporting in July 2008 on Rangels leases on four rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. More disclosures followed the most serious that he failed to report and pay federal and state taxes his area of jurisdiction on $75000 in rental income on a villa he owns a charge unlikely to have gone without federal investigators notice. He later paid the taxes. By then Rangel who has maintained his innocence called for the ethics committee to investigate the allegations.
The probe has been expanded twice first in December and again last week this time to examine $500000 in previously unreported assets that Rangel disclosed when he amended financial disclosure statements in August. A separate ongoing ethics investigation also was opened in June after questions arose about foundation-paid Caribbean trips by Rangel and four other lawmakers.
An investigative subcommittee says it has held more than 30 closed-door meetings issued 150 subpoenas interviewed about 34 witnesses produced 2100 pages of transcripts and pored over 12000 pages of documents.
Throughout all that Rangel has benefited from his standing as an iconic and popular leader both in New York City (he won his 20th term last fall with 89 percent) and in the Democratic cloakroom. It also has not hurt that Pelosi appears eager to avoid a replay of the severe criticism she faced particularly from members of the Congressional Black Caucus after engineering the removal of Louisiana Democrat William J. Jefferson from Ways and Means after a Justice Department investigation became widely known but months before he was indicted on federal bribery charges.
On the floor Rangel often takes a front-row seat with colleagues from the 42-member black caucus which he helped found in 1971. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan the only other founding member still in the House strongly defends Rangel. It would take a lot for that to happen" he said of prospects Rangel would be disciplined.
Democratic aides play down but dont rule out talk that Rangel could be deposed as chairman if his peers say he should be sanctioned. If the ethics report contains severe criticism there could be a question" said a senior leadership aide.
The inquirys latest expansion makes it unlikely that a final report and recommendation are coming soon a reality that draws little criticism from Republicans who have already begun to render the case a political cudgel. You have not heard any of our members complain about foot-dragging by the ethics committee" said a senior GOP aide.
Stanley M. Brand a former House general counsel who specializes in government ethics issues says Rangel could make a strong legal case that being denied his position of power is an inappropriate punishment. You have to be careful about mixing politics and the law" Brand said. Whatever the ethics committee finds I think its unlikely they would recommend as part of the punishment stripping a member of his chairmanship."
The ethics inquiry has taken a clear toll on Rangels fundraising. In the first half of this year his leadership political action committee the National Leadership PAC raised just $115000 less than a quarter of what it brought in during the same period in the previous election cycle. Likewise his own campaign has raised $685000 and donated $152000 to fellow Democrats and party organizations this year far off the pace of his 2008 campaign when he raised $5 million and gave half of that to other candidates and party groups. At the same time the campaign and PAC have spent more than $800000 this year on legal fees.
For now Rangel is pouring his energy into his re-election friends say and continues to enjoy a loyal following at home. But while he betrays no outward signs of retiring or otherwise yielding power voluntarily there is growing speculation about potential successors at the committees helm. Leading candidates are Pete Stark of California Sander M. Levin of Michigan John Lewis of Georgia and Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts.
For his part Rangel insists his effectiveness has not been hurt. Not a all" he said tersely on the day of last weeks vote. His supporters dismiss suggestions of his demise. Hes going to be fine Lewis said.
So for now instead of preparing for a victory lap as part of the relay team on health care Rangel gets a crucial and perhaps final chance to show he can be a bridge to his partys liberal base not a political albatross.
