The House ethics committee will begin ethics “trials” for Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) when Congress returns in mid-November, according to a statement from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the panel’s chairwoman.
Lofgren announced that the Rangel trial will begin on Nov. 15, with the Waters’ proceedings scheduled to start on Nov. 29. Some Republicans had pushed a much quicker trial schedule, but Democrats chose to wait until the lame duck session of Congress to schedule the rare ethics tribunals, in which the two veteran lawmakers will be tried before a specially convened panel.
The timetable means the full House could end up taking action on any sanctions approved by the ethics committee against the veteran Democrats before it adjourns for the year.
Lofgren also criticized her GOP counterpart, Rep. Jo Bonner (Ala.), and his fellow Republicans on the committee for releasing an extraordinary public statement recently that suggested she was stalling the trials for Rangel and Waters.
“Last week’s unprecedented statement by the minority members of the committee, in contrast to the prior requests and ongoing discussions, called up the chair to unilaterally establish the committee scheduled, as the committee rules allow,” Lofgren said in her statement. Lofgren is chairing the “adjudicatory hearings” where Rangel and Waters plan to contest the charges against them.
Some Hill insiders believed the Rangel and Waters’ proceeding might be postponed until 2011, although Lofgren’s announcement – clearly a reaction to the GOP statement last week – now settles that question.
No comments:
Post a Comment