Representative Charles Rangel, Harlem Democrat, in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning asked for a leave of absence as Chairman of the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.
In a brief statement today, Rangel said that, “I have this morning sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking her to grant me a leave of absence until such time as the ethics committee completes its work.”
The ethics committee last Thursday, admonished Rangel for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008, indicating that he did violate ethics rules. While the committee’s findings did not state that Rangel knew the travel was being paid for by corporations, it did say that two of his staff members were aware of that fact, hence he should be held accountable.
Much more serious for Rangel are the other probes by the ethics committee which include his failure to declare over $500,000 on his tax returns, along with three pieces of property in New Jersey.
Pressure has been mounting on Rangel over the last few weeks to step aside as chair, who stood firm up until today.
Rangel has had the support of Speaker Pelosi who backed him amidst calls that he step down. Within the last few days however, some in Rangel’s own party have been less than supportive and today a vote was set to be taken regarding his removal as chair.
Pelsoi, when she became speaker did promise to run the most ethical House in history and has taken a lot of criticism for standing by Rangel. That appears now to be no longer the case.
