Ethics

Only In Washington: Ethics Questions Follow Ethics Chairman

Susan Crabtree | September 22, 2011, 6:06PM

Reps. Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Jo Bonner's GOP primary challenger is trying to stir up some ethics trouble that could create more headaches for Bonner, the sitting chairman of the House Ethics Committee, not too far down the road.

Dean Young, a Republican candidate for Alabama's 1st district, this week brought up a series of conflicts-of-interest questions that have followed Bonner since a botched Ethics Committee investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) last fall.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Sinking Ship? Waters Seizes On Leaked Secret Ethics Committee Docs

Susan Crabtree | July 18, 2011, 10:56AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is contemplating her next move in response to a game-changing Ethics Committee leak of hundreds of documents detailing the alleged internal mishandling of her case.

Waters is expected to demand copies of the documents from the panel as early as today, a spokesman told TPM Monday morning after a report in Politico quoted internal Ethics Committee e-mails and memos that paint a picture of a committee consumed by partisan dysfunction and accusations of professional misconduct surrounding her case.

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Charlie Rangel: No Reason Weiner Should Resign

Benjy Sarlin | June 10, 2011, 3:08PM

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) knows all about handling pressure to resign after living through a lengthy ethics investigation into his finances ending in an ultra-rare censure vote last year. And his advice to embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is clear: don't back down.

"Not one person has given any reason for a resignation," Rangel told PolitickerNY on Friday. He said that Weiner's indiscretions were far less serious than past political sex scandals and that the Queens lawmaker could still do his job well if "the press gets his back."

"He wasn't going with prostitutes. He wasn't going out with little boys. He wasn't going into men's room with broad stances," Rangel said. "I mean, All of those I understand; I'm 80 years old. But high-tech stuff like this, I can't respond. But I know immoral sex when I hear it from other members, and no one has screamed for their resignation. So I don't know why they're selecting Anthony."

Rangel is among the most prominent New York politicians to defend him so far. A number of Democrats in the House have demanded Weiner's resignation, but all indications so far point to the Congressman sticking around whether his party likes it or not.

Anthony Weiner

Weiner To Dems: Nope, Not Resigning, Sorry

Benjy Sarlin | June 10, 2011, 1:11PM

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

If the last week didn't convince Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to resign, it's hard to see what will.

Democrats in Washington couldn't have made it clearer that they want Weiner gone fast. Within minutes of his nationally televised confession on Monday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called for an ethics investigation and was seconded immediately by DCCC chair Steve Israel (D-NY). By the end of the week an array of Democrats, including DCCC official Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), were openly demanding he step down. On the Senate side, Harry Reid more or less told Weiner to drop dead, acidly saying his advice to the lawmaker would be to "Call somebody else." On the other side of the ledger, virtually no Democratic officials have moved to defend him.

But Weiner has stuck to his guns, emerging from 24-hour deathwatch unbroken after an onslaught of humiliating stories ranging from a reported X-rated photo to dozens of pages of alleged raunchy chats to a New York Times story on his wife Huma Abedin's pregnancy.

"I betrayed a lot of people and I know it and I'm trying to get back to work now and try to make amends to my constituents, and of course to my family of course," he told the New York Post on Thursday. "I'm going to go back to my community office and try to get some work done."

While the shouts for his resignation may be intense in DC, take the Amtrak to New York and the scene looks very different. Local politicos say they aren't surprised to see Weiner digging in.

Read more »

Anthony Weiner

Weiner Gave $2K For Rangel's Legal Defense, But Didn't Pony Up For Party

Susan Crabtree | June 8, 2011, 5:59PM

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

Even though Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) couldn't find it in his heart to do his full part in ponying up to help his party in elections, he managed to donate to Rep. Charlie Rangel's legal defense fund, according to a TPM search of his campaign finance records.

Weiner cut a check for $2,000 to Rangel's defense fund in January to help defray the roughly $2 million in legal fees Rangel amassed after a nearly three-year investigation into a string of financial irregularities, which resulted in a House censure last year.

But the embarrassed and embattled Weiner has yet to donate any money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee so far this cycle. The stinginess has been duly noted, party insiders say, and has contributed to his reputation as a shameless self-promoter who was only using his Congressional post as a stepping stone to the New York mayor's office.

Read more »

Ethics

In Limbo: Suspended Ethics Committee Attorneys Still On House Payroll

Susan Crabtree | February 25, 2011, 2:12PM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)

Last year was particularly rough for House Democrats as the messy public ethics spectacles involving prominent Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel (NY) and Maxine Waters (CA) played out for all the world to see right in the waning months before a difficult and ultimately devastating election for Democrats.

Now that Republicans are in charge of the House, watchdogs are scrutinizing their every move, waiting for signs that they're weakening the ethics standards or continuing Congress's long history of slow-walking ethics cases and its seeming inability to impose tough sanctions on those who break the rules.

Read more »

Spending

Dems Fight To Protect For-Profit Colleges From Disclosure Rules

Brian Beutler | February 17, 2011, 12:19PM

Dep. of Education Sec. Arne Duncan

There's a fight brewing between Democrats over whether to allow the government to crack down on for-profit colleges and universities.

The Department of Education is tired of federally subsidized student loans going to shady for-profit colleges that have poor track records of getting the students who do graduates good work -- often leaving them stuck with mountains of debt. To curb this phenomenon, the agency has been moving along with a new regulation they call the "Gainful Employment" rule.

Under "Gainful Employment" rules, for profit schools would have to show that their students can find work without getting stuck with unreasonable debt in order to qualify for federal loans.

But behind the scenes, a bipartisan bloc of House members see things differently. They say the rule would reach too far and clamp down on institutions that do a decent job of educating and preparing students. But they want to tie the Department of Education's hands completely, and block the funds they'd need to implement the rules at all.

Read more »

John Dingell

John Dingell Runs Through Litany Of Violent Rhetoric On House Floor (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | January 12, 2011, 4:37PM

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)

Members of Congress have, by and large, stayed out of the partisan fray over violent rhetoric in the wake of the Arizona shooting spree. But there have been some exceptions. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) took the opportunity to muse that the government may be withholding information about the crime because Jared Loughner is a flag-hating Marxist liberal who might embarrass President Obama.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), by contrast, ran through a litany of now-infamous statements by high-profile politicians, leaving blank the names of people and issues under threat.

"Let me read some statements that I have seen to be pretty awful," he said on Wednesday.

Here they are in order:

Read more »

Congress

On The Floor: Ten Great Moments From Congress In 2010 (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 8:33AM

As the year comes to a close, and we look ahead to all the wild and wacky things that are sure to happen in the new Republican-controlled House and only narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate, let's take a look back at the past year. A whole lot of amazing and memorable moments happened not only on the campaign trail, but on the two Congressional floors in the Capitol itself.

We've gathered together 10 unforgettable moments from the House and Senate in 2010. Some of them are great -- while others are just so bad that they're good.

But all of them give some perspective on the people who have been running our government, or who are about to have even more power next year. So sit back, relax, and laugh -- because it's better than crying.

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Charlie Rangel Hangs On To Dem Nomination For His House Seat

Jillian Rayfield | September 14, 2010, 11:37PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has won the Democratic nomination for his NY-15 congressional seat, beating state Rep. Adam Clayton Powell IV, the Associated Press reports.

With 59% of precincts reporting, Rangel leads Powell 53%-25%.

Read more »

2010 elections

Tonight's Primaries: The Last Big Election Night Before November

Eric Kleefeld | September 14, 2010, 5:58PM

Christine O'Donnell

Tonight marks the last major night of the 2010 primary season. And what a wild and wacky season it's been -- and could still prove to be tonight.

This is the last multi-state primary night this year. After tonight, the only one primary left is Hawaii's this Saturday.

So let's take a look at some of tonight's races. There are Tea Party insurgents against establishment GOP moderates, Dems fighting it out to keep their jobs, and a whole lot of fun throughout.

Read more »

NY-15

Amidst Ethics Charges, Rangel Faces Bitter Primary Fight

Jillian Rayfield | September 10, 2010, 8:46AM

Adam Clayton Powell IV and Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel may have a few (read: 13) ethics charges against him, but he's also got another problem back home: his bitter Democratic primary contest in Harlem. Rangel is facing Adam Clayton Powell IV, the son of a celebrated Harlem hero who, ironically, lost the NY-15 seat to Rangel 40 years ago amidst his own ethics troubles.

Read more »

Adam Clayton Powell IV

Rangel Primary Challenger Surprised By Ex-Con Donor: 'Jesus Christ, That's Quite A Resume'

Jillian Rayfield | September 2, 2010, 1:18PM

Democratic candidate for Congress Adam Clayton Powell IV (D)

Adam Clayton Powell IV, who is challenging Rep. Charlie Rangel in the September 14 Democratic primary in NY-15, was told at a press conference yesterday that one of his major donors pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2002, and has been slapped with multiple racial and sexual harassment suits by dancers at his Bronx strip club, "Sin City."

"I don't want to hear any more. Jesus Christ, that's quite a resume," said Powell.

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Rangel: I'm 'Proud' Cordoba House Developers Are 'Sticking To Their Guns'

Jillian Rayfield | August 19, 2010, 11:43AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) came out in support of the proposed Cordoba House Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero yesterday, saying that he's "kind of proud that they're sticking to their guns and saying this is where they would want to worship."

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Gillibrand And Cuomo Take Heat For Attending Rangel B-Day Party (VIDEOS)

Jillian Rayfield | August 13, 2010, 11:57AM

NY Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo (D) and NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

New York Democrats are done celebrating Charlie Rangel's 80th birthday party, but apparently the hangover is going to last a little bit longer...

In new web videos, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are hit by their Republican opponents for their ties to the Harlem Congressman, who is under investigation for ethics violations.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Not A Care In The World? Charlie Rangel's Birthday Celebration]

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Charlie Rangel Parties Like He's Not Under Investigation For Ethics Violations (VIDEOS)

Jillian Rayfield | August 12, 2010, 3:33PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Last night at his 80th birthday party (and fundraiser), Charlie Rangel partied like it's 1999 -- and like he's not under investigation for ethics violations.

With special guests Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Schumer, and other New York political stars, the Democratic Congressman tried to show he was unfazed by his ethics troubles, while enjoying cake and some Dionne Warwick tunes. "This sure ain't no funeral, is it?" said Rangel.

Here are some videos from the event...

Read more »

FL-SEN

Jeff Greene Attacks: Kendrick Meek's Ethics Problems Are Worse Than Rangel's

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 8, 2010, 6:46PM

Jeff Greene

In an interview with TPMDC this afternoon, billionaire investor Jeff Greene suggested that Rep. Kendrick Meek is a worse ethical offender than the notorious Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY). Greene and Meek are locked in a nasty fight for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida, and Greene tried to take things up a notch by associating Meek with Rangel's high profile ethics investigation underway in Congress.

The interview followed a hastily announced conference call with reporters in which Greene called on Rangel to resign -- and urged Meek to do the same. (As the Palm Beach Post reports, Meek said last week he "favors letting the House Ethics Committee process play out" before passing judgment on what Rangel should do next.)

The talk of Rangel was simply pretext to the attacks on Meek, however, who Greene said deserved his own ethics investigation over his family's ties to a Florida developer who Meek obtained an earmark for six years ago. The charge has been a part of Greene's campaign for quite a while now, and Meek has denied wrongdoing on many occasions.

Greene seems to think Rangel's ethics problems give him a new window to open up the old line of attack on Meek.

Read more »

Ethics

Boehner: Rangel And Waters Scandals Won't Have Major Election Impact

Brian Beutler | August 5, 2010, 6:17PM

House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

Republicans have been trying to extract as much political gain as possible from the ethical clouds surrounding Democrats Charlie Rangel (NY) and Maxine Waters (CA). But in an unexpected statement this afternoon, House Minority Leader John Boehner acknowledged it's not making much of a difference.

"It's a sad day for the House when members are charged with violating the rules of the House," Boehner told WHAS in Louisville, KY in an interview, "This is going to play itself out, but I don't expect it's going to have a big impact on the election."

Boehner was in Kentucky to help Republican Todd Lally defeat incumbent Democrat John Yarmuth.

Read more »

Ethics

Jujitsu! Dems Will Attempt To Turn Tables On GOP Over Ethics Scandals

Brian Beutler | August 5, 2010, 8:02AM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

Republicans are doing their best to drag the entire Democratic party under the ethical cloud hanging over Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA). That strategy makes many vulnerable House members wish the two would step aside or admit wrongdoing so the controversy would die. But Democrats are hoping that a bit of political jiujitsu can flip this attack on its head: they would like to show that Democrats are dealing with their ethically compromised members publicly, and officially while the GOP protects its own and keeps its sins private.

A top Democratic strategist tells TPMDC that Democrats plan to seize on two stories from the past year, suggesting that Republicans aren't free of their own ethical problems, but that they just deal with them behind closed doors.

Read more »

Ethics

GOP Hurt By Anti 'Swamp' Campaign In '06 Aims To Turn Tables In '10 With Rangel Charges

Christina Bellantoni | July 30, 2010, 1:19PM

Speaker Nancy Pelsoi, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

Prepare for Charlie Rangel to become a household name during the fall campaigns, political operatives from both parties are saying. The Republican plan for August, according to aides TPM spoke with this week, is to tie the party to Rangel and the fact he was charged with 13 violations yesterday. The GOP says it's only fair game, since the Democrats in 2006 ran on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's pledge to "drain the swamp" and tried to link all of the Republican candidates with disgraced former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).

Republicans are tickled pink that a spotlight is shining on Rangel (D-NY) just as the campaign season kicks into high gear, and campaign operatives are advising GOP candidates across the country to try and nationalize his ethics charges and get Democrats to defend him. Vulnerable House Democrats are feeling the squeeze, and Republicans are digging up their 2006 statements accusing the GOP leadership of fostering a culture of corruption. The looming midterms are one reason House Democrats had been urging Rangel behind-the-scenes to cut a deal, and why Republicans are saying he missed his window.

Read more »

Ethics

House Dem Seeks To Restrict Ethics Panel That Targeted Her Top Aide

Brian Beutler | June 3, 2010, 2:56PM

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)

If your chief of staff had been admonished by House Ethics investigators, would you think twice about sponsoring legislation to limit the reach of the Office of Congressional Ethics?

You might if you were Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH). Last year, following on an OCE investigation, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct admonished Fudge's Chief of Staff Dawn Kelly Mobley for actions she undertook when she had a different boss--Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), who died in 2008. Now Fudge, along with nearly 20 other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, are seeking to rewrite the rules that govern the OCE, to prevent the panel and other congressional investigators from releasing reports or making public statements about unresolved cases.

But according to Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the proposal is much farther reaching than that and she says Fudge and her supporters are trying to shield themselves and other members of Congress from oversight.

Read more »

NRCC

Boehner: Rangel's Money Is Tainted -- Unless It Went To Republicans

Rachel Slajda | March 9, 2010, 12:08PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

The National Republican Congressional Committee has been attacking Democrats for not returning contributions from Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), who this week stepped down from his Ways and Means chairmanship over an ethics investigation, and calling his donations "tainted money."

But House Minority Leader John Boehner doesn't have a problem with the "tainted money" Rangel gave to Rep. Parker Griffith (AL), a Democrat-turned-Republican who switched parties in December.

Read more »

Eric Massa

Pelosi: I Didn't Know About Massa Allegations

Brian Beutler | March 4, 2010, 12:28PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

At her weekly press conference this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that she had no prior knowledge of allegations that Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), harassed a junior staffer.

"I asked my staff, has there been any rumors [about this] before," Pelosi said. "There had been a rumor...nobody made a formal notification to our office that anything happened. A one, two, three person rumor that had been reported to Mr. Hoyer's office, and then reported to my staff, which they did not report to me, because you know what? This is rumor city."

Read more »

Democrats

Dems Grateful Relieved Over Rangel's 'Exemplary Leadership'

Brian Beutler | March 3, 2010, 6:17PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) stepped aside as House Ways and Means Committee chairman earlier today, to great fanfare from House Democratic leaders. But reading between the lines of their fond words, it's clear that they're relieved he's decided to take a (for now) temporary leave.

Rangel himself said his decision was rooted in a desire to keep the patina of scandal around him from imperiling the political fortunes of his fellow Democrats. Does leadership agree? After a House Democratic caucus meeting this afternoon, Caucus Chair John Larson told me Rangel's decision was a sign of "exemplary leadership." In other worse, they do indeed agree.

After all, Rangel initially put up a fight. As of last night he was insisting he would retain his chairmanship.

Read more »

Ethics

Rangel: I'm Stepping Down To Help Fellow Dems' Election Chances

Rachel Slajda | March 3, 2010, 2:54PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), who announced today that he will take a leave of absence from the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, told a group of reporters that he did so in order not to hurt his fellow Democrats' chances this November.

"I had told the speaker last year many months ago that if my issues were going to impede the election of the Democratic party, then I would be glad for her to entertain a leave of absence," Rangel said this afternoon.

"I think that if the Speaker accepts my request to take a leave of absence, politically, I think that that should take care of the political problems."

Read more »

Ways and Means Committee

Boehner Questions Validity Of Rangel's 'Leave Of Absence'

Justin Elliott | March 3, 2010, 12:48PM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

At a press conference today, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) questioned whether Rep. Charles Rangel's decision to take a "leave of absence" as Ways and Means chairman is permitted under House rules.

"There is nothing in the rules of the House that refers to temporarily stepping aside. Either you're the chairman, or you're not," Boehner said in a clip of the press conference shown on Fox.

Read more »

Ways and Means Committee

Rangel: I've Asked For 'Leave Of Absence' As Ways And Means Chair

Justin Elliott | March 3, 2010, 8:57AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Less than a week after the ethics panel found he violated House rules by taking corporate-funded junkets to the Caribbean, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) announced this morning that he has asked Nancy Pelosi for a "leave of absence" from his duties as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, pending completion of various ethics investigations.

Rangel took no questions from the press, but added that "from the very beginning I have offered this to Speaker Pelosi."

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Report: Charlie Rangel Gives Up His Gavel...Or Does He?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 2, 2010, 8:08PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

It seems last week's admonishment of Rep. Charlie Rangel was the scandal that broke the New York Democrat's teflon coating. NBC news is reporting that Rangel has given up his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee this evening before his fellow Representatives had a chance to take it away from him.

Sources told NBC that Rangel "had been encouraged to step aside" by Democrats "before the House voted on a bill to strip him of his chairmanship."

Late Update: A few minutes ago, Rangel briefed reporters on Capitol Hill. Tweets from the appearance suggest the the situation is more fluid than NBC's original report might suggest.

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

Pelosi Claims Rangel Didn't Violate House Rules

Rachel Slajda | February 26, 2010, 12:15PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters today that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, did not violate House rules by accepting two trips to the Caribbean that were paid for by corporations.

But last night, the House Ethics Committee released an official report admonishing Rangel for taking the junkets and finding that he did, in fact, violate House rules.

"What I understand -- and I haven't seen the report ... [is] that he did not violate the rules of the House and I think that's an important statement," Pelosi said.

Read more »

Charlie Rangel

House Chairmen Say Health Care Deal Imminent

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2010, 9:47AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Two of the House's most influential chairmen say that health care negotiations between the House, Senate, and President Obama have come so far, that they'll be ready to send a package to Congressional scorekeepers this weekend.

Congress Daily caught up with Rep. George Miller (D-CA)--chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee--and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)--chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee--who both acknowledged that a compromise could be just around the corner.

"We hope to be able to send in the next couple days our changes to CBO," Miller said (sub. req.).

Rangel said they'd have a package ready for scoring by Saturday.

Congressional negotiators and the White House have made significant headway on resolving two of the biggest differences between the House and Senate health care bills in recent days, and it looks like they're just about ready to wrap things up.

Health Care

House Leadership To Meet With President Obama Tonight

Brian Beutler | January 6, 2010, 9:10AM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Barack Obama

Following on a meeting between House and Senate leaders and President Obama last night, a number of senior House Democrats will return to the White House to continue negotiating toward a final health care bill.

Joining House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be Henry Waxman (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Charlie Rangel (D-NY)--the chairmen of the three committees that drafted the House bill--and Louise Slaughter (D-NY), chair of the House Rules Committee.

These members, and other House leaders will also huddle this morning, as they continue to discuss what issues should be at stake when the House and Senate health care bills are merged, and how to prevail on those issues.

Check back in at TPMDC for continuing updates.