Republican Party

Rangel’s Chairmanship Hangs in the Balance

By Jay Newton-Small | @JNSmall | March 2, 2010 | +

Five days after he was admonished by the Ethics Committee for two corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, ABC News and NBC News are reporting that New York Democrat Charlie Rangel will “temporarily” give up the gavel of the Ways and Means Committee. Rangel tonight denied the reports, telling reporters on Capitol Hill that he remains chairman, though when asked if he would continue on the 79-year-old said, “I can’t make all those promises at my age.” His spokesman Matthew Beck when asked about the reports responded in an e-mail, “Nothing tonight.”

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told reporters Tuesday that the caucus will convene to determine Rangel’s fate though he didn’t say when.

Calls for Rangel to step aside mounted Tuesday with the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Artur Davis, an Alabama Democrat, calling for his ouster. New Hampshire’s Paul Hodes, and Ohio’s Zach Space have also called for Rangel to give up Ways & Means, Congress’s top tax writing panel.

Rangel’s ethical woes inspired Vince Morgan, one of his former campaign directors, to challenge him in a primary. Rep. Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat, has returned $1,000 Rangel gave to her campaign and others to whom he’s given are facing calls from opponents to return the money. And the White House this week hasn’t exactly defended Rangel.

Republicans have grasped Rangel’s ethical problems as evidence that Pelosi has not fulfilled her promise to “clean out the swamp.” Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican, Tuesday introduced a privileged resolution which would strip Rangel of his chairmanship. Democrats, it seems, could beat him to it.

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Related Topics: chairmanship, charlie rangel, ethics, ways & means, 2012 Election, Congress, Democratic Party, Republican Party

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  • afguy

    As it has been stated previously, he’s “compromised”.
    .
    He needs to be stripped of his chairmanship.
    .
    These coy little games make NO ONE look good…

  • FlownOver

    Oh, goody! A new shiny object for a bored Village press corps! More chances for partisans to get on camera making purely partisan statements!

  • deconstructiva

    Thanks, Jay. If Rangel goes, is there a clear “heir apparent” to succeed him or a predetermined pecking order? Do Pelosi and other top brass D’s pick chairs or is there a collective vote among the party?
    .
    …by the way, Jay, were you at the Senate watching Bunning cave in? I asked KT earlier of both of you were there covering this but she didn’t answer. Will you both write a dead-tree / home page story on this? Thanks for your coverage here, and will you get to go to Chile for a few days (given your Haiti work)? Chile quake coverage might not be a “reward” but I’ve no doubt you can add new insights down there.

  • lcky9

    How many more bold face lies do we have to hear from these people.. come on if they were Republicans all the Dems would be screaming.. I’m an independent I scream when either side does this con man stuff.. I have to say the ELITES have a lot of nerve even saying ANYTHING to ANY citizen who fails to do their taxes correctly or takes money under the table why is there a set of rules for the elites and one for the serfs?? He has got to go an all the others like him..

  • deconstructiva

    It’s depressing if inevitable that many Congressfolks get corrupted, but at least we’re back to ol’ fashioned financial scandals here. It’s NOT another infidelity-based case of R’s going down (on whom is another post, another time) – Ensign, et al. Telling a colleague to report or give back money is one thing; telling one to zip it (literally) is another.

  • http://www.twitter.com/jnsmall Jay Newton-Small

    I just posted on Bunning’s capitulation.

    As for heir apparent, Rangel’s been grooming Rep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts’s Democrat, for more than a year to take the reigns. The problem is, Neal is five rungs down – which is a huge leap. Ahead in seniority is Pete Stark, Sandy Levin, Jim McDermott and John Lewis. But for various reasons these guys don’t fit the bill. ABC is reporting it’s Sandy Levin, but we’ll see.
    JNS

  • deconstructiva

    Jay, I just read your Bunning post, good stuff. I left a reply there; one of Bunning’s remarks caught my eye. Thanks again for your coverage today. I appreciate it.

  • kevin

    Yep, time to step aside, Charlie.

  • markstev

    Charlie Rangel’s not going to have the chair yanked out from underneath him.

    Charlie Rangel arose from the chair, doused it with lighter fluid, and set it ablaze on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by taking that vacation money from the CEOs.

    You’re toast, Charlie. Conservatives didn’t do it to you. You immolated yourself.

    Greedy damn fool.

  • sacredh

    Goodbye Charlie. You brought this on your self. The chairmanship of Ways and Means doesn’t give you the right to use any means to get your way. Adios.

  • afguy

    Nicely put, sacred…

  • sacredh

    afguy: It never ceases to amaze me that they think they can get away with crap like that. Each party wants to find some dirt to make the other look bad and yet they continue to act as if the rules don’t apply to them. I can’t feel sorry for the guy. I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I would never even consider cheating on my taxes. It p!sses me off no end that people making multiples of what I do pull these stunts.

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