WASHINGTON — Buffeted by ethics inquiries, 20-term Rep. Charles Rangel of New York stepped down Wednesday as chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, delivering a heavy new political jolt to a Democratic Party already facing angry voters.
The action also muddied the congressional picture on taxes, coming as the House moves toward difficult debate over large automatic increases that lie just over the horizon.
Rangel’s relinquishing of the gavel spared colleagues from having to vote on a Republican-sponsored resolution to strip him of his post. But it also focused attention on ethical lapses by a top leader of a party that had promised to end a “culture of corruption” when it regained control of Congress in 2006 from Republicans.
Rangel stepped aside just days after being admonished for breaking House rules by accepting corporate-financed travel.
He called his exile temporary. But he still faces inquiries by the House ethics committee over late payment of income taxes on a rental villa he owns in the Dominican Republic, his use of House stationery to solicit corporate donations to an educational institution that bears his name, and belated disclosure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously unlisted wealth.
Rangel, 79, has been a key player in the health care overhaul debate. Even more important, for the next few months, Ways and Means will play a central role in shaping tax policy.
Billions of dollars of tax cuts put in place by former President George W. Bush are due to expire at the end of this year. The tax committee’s chairman will have great influence over which of these tax cuts are permitted to expire.
Veteran Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark of California will serve as acting chairman, according to Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo.
Stark, the next most senior Democrat on the panel, is a health policy expert and one of the most liberal members of the House.
He has a reputation for being temperamental and sharp-tongued, not a consensus builder.
