GOP fails to oust Rangel over ethics flap

Oct. 7, 2009 | By Andrea Seabrook | NPR
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PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

US Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, reads his notes shortly before a session of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee Forum on the Need for Health Reform Now on September 15, 2009 at the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

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House Republicans failed in their attempt to oust Congressman Charlie Rangel as chairman of the main tax-writing committee. Rangel is under investigation by the ethics committee for not disclosing all of his personal assets and income. Republicans say that by not forcing Rangel out of his committee post, Democrats are reneging on a campaign promise to clean up the House.

A powerful Democratic congressman, under scrutiny for ethics violations, came into the spotlight again on Wednesday as Republicans tried to force Rangel to step down from his committee chairmanship. New York's Charles Rangel is under investigation by the House ethics panel and has already conceded that he did not pay taxes on thousands and thousands of dollars in rental income.

Rep. John Carter (R-TX) led the effort to strip Rangel of his post. Speaking on the House floor,

Carter detailed pages and pages of allegations against Rangel: that Rangel hadn't disclosed a checking account and an investment account he holds, each worth at least a quarter of a million dollars; that he has benefitted from special mortgage terms that amount to a gift; that he failed to disclose gifts on his personal disclosure statement and thus violated House rule banning gifts more than $100.

Carter talked about an undeclared vacation home Rangel owns in the Dominican Republic, his questionable use of a rent-controlled apartment in New York City as a campaign office. Carter read bits and pieces of newspaper reports and editorials condemning Rangel. And Carter went on for more than 13 minutes before he came to the end of his resolution.

Democrats quickly moved to send all this back to the House ethics committee — which is already investigating it. The vote was 246 to 153, with 19 members voting present.

House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland reiterated Democrats' position: that the process is already working.

"The committee is doing its work. It is ongoing. It is thoroughly taking under consideration the matter that the chairman asked them to take under consideration, and we will await their report," Hoyer said.

It was Rangel himself who asked the ethics panel to thoroughly investigate his financial disclosures and his actions. He says all of his mistakes were unintentional.

So the effect of Wednesday's vote? Pretty much nil, in terms of procedure. The question is how it shakes out politically. This is the second time this year that Republicans have tried to force Rangel out of his post. They say Democrats aren't living up to their many campaign promises to clean up Congress. And last fall the National Republican Campaign Committee tried to use Rangel as a political liability for Democrats in moderate districts, like Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI.

A political ad that ran last fall links Kagen to Rangel, a "corrupt New York City congressman."

And though it didn't work last year — Kagen kept his seat — the allegations against Rangel have only gotten more serious and more complicated.

View this story at NPR.org

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