WASHINGTON -- Rep. Charles Rangel, the charismatic, powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, spoke grandly at a news conference this week about the need to fund urban projects and keep the nation competitive. Then the New York Democrat was chased down the hall by reporters demanding to know whether he was going to temporarily give up his chairmanship over ethics allegations.
"I don't see what purpose that would serve," Rep. Rangel said. "I don't think reporters should be in the position to remove chairmen, not even temporarily, especially when the reporting is false."
The exchange highlighted the danger for congressional Democrats that Rep. Rangel's problems could be a distraction as they return to Washington this week and prepare for a bigger majority. Rep. Rangel's plight creates a discordant note as the party seeks to enact sweeping overhauls. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi further roiled the waters recently by suggesting the Ethics Committee would quickly wrap up its investigation of Rep. Rangel, prompting Republicans to charge that she was trying to manipulate the process.
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Associated Press
Rep. Charles Rangel is under investigation by the House ethics panel over renting apartments at below-market rates, among other things.
Rep. Rangel has been accused of, among other things, not paying taxes on rent from a Dominican Republic beach house, renting several New York apartments at below-market rates, and, most recently, doing favors for a donor to a school named after him.
He has denied any willful wrongdoing, and has asked the Ethics Committee to investigate the first two allegations. The committee announced Tuesday that it was expanding the inquiry to examine the third allegation.
The party has closed ranks around the veteran, and no Democrats have called on Rep. Rangel to step down.
During the recent congressional campaign, Mark Begich, the Democratic Senate candidate in Alaska, returned contributions he had received from Rep. Rangel. The tight Alaska race, against Sen. Ted Stevens, hinged on allegations of corruption and abuse of power after Sen. Stevens, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, was convicted of lying about gifts he had received. Two Democratic House candidates also returned Rep. Rangel's money.
As the new Democrat-led Congress gets set to convene, the allegations are an unwelcome intrusion for the party, which is hoping to show the country it is governing under a banner of change. "I think it's a big problem for them," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog group. "Rangel's ethics problems get worse on a nearly daily basis."
Rep. Pelosi's recent comment that she had "been assured" the Ethics Committee would finish its report by Jan. 3 prompted questions from Republicans about how she knew the committee's schedule when its work is intended to be confidential. Critics have said that she either improperly received information about the committee's inquiry or was trying to pressure its members to wrap up their investigation hastily. "How is it that she knows it will only take one more month?" said Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), one of Rep. Rangel's most outspoken critics.
Rep. Pelosi's office has said she wasn't manipulating the process but was simply relying on the committee's history in assuming it would finish work by the end of the current Congress.
Rep. Rangel, 78 years old, was first elected from his Harlem district in 1970 and has become a Capitol Hill institution. A large man with slicked-back hair and a gravelly voice, he is well-liked by colleagues and given to colorful comments.
When the Democrats captured the House in 2006, Rep. Rangel became one of its most powerful lawmakers. Because it oversees tax policy, his committee is among the most sought-after in Congress.
The New York Times and New York Post have reported in recent months that Rep. Rangel occupies several rent-controlled apartments in New York; that he failed to report rental income from a vacation home; that he took a tax break for primary residences on a Washington, D.C., home while he also had a rent-stabilized apartment in New York that required a similar residency claim; and that he worked to preserve a tax loophole that benefited a company at the same time its chief executive was pledging $1 million for the Charles B. Rangel School of Public Service.
House Republicans, joined by several newspapers and watchdog groups, have asked Rep. Rangel to step down from his chairmanship while the Ethics Committee is investigating.
Rep. Rangel doesn't appear in jeopardy of losing his gavel. Even if the Ethics Committee concludes he violated House rules, the panel is known for light punishments. A Pelosi spokesman said nothing she has seen suggests he should give up his gavel, though she is awaiting the report.
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