House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing growing pressure to replace Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) atop of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, but so far she's sticking with the embattled chairman.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Pelosi said she is prepared to wait for the House ethics committee to complete its investigation of Rangel's personal finances, which is slated to occur before the official end of the 110th Congress in early January.
But Pelosi also signaled that she does not want Rangel's problems hanging over House Democrats indefinitely, and some action on the embattled congressman is expected early next year, maybe even before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office.
"In September, I called on the House Ethics Committee to look into issues raised by news reports on Chairman Rangel. This followed up on the chairman's own request for an investigation by the Committee," Pelosi said in her statement. "I have been assured the report will be completed by the end of this session of Congress, which concludes on Jan. 3, 2009. I look forward to reviewing the report at that time."
The uncomfortable state of limbo with one of the most senior chairmen has provided an opening Republicans and outside ethics experts to criticize Pelosi's standards and question her pledge to "drain the swamp." Democratic leaders and rank and file members have also been remarkably silent about what to do with Rangel.
The House ethics committee was already investigating Rangel's myriad financial disclosure problems, but the latest revelation from the New York Times that Rangel met with donors to the Charles B. Rangel Center at City College of New York who also had tax policy business before Congress has given yet another opening for Republican attacks. |