Rangel Faces Calls To Step Down As Ways And Means Panel Chair; Pelosi Refuses To Budge

September 10, 2008 9:58 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Less than two months after failing to pass a measure publicly censuring Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Republicans issued calls on Tuesday for him to step down as chair of the House Ways and Means panel. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will not ask Rangel to leave his committee post.

Nine Republicans led by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) sent a letter to Pelosi asking her to remove Rangel as committee chair until the ethics allegations against the 37-year veteran lawmaker are resolved.

"In order to remove one obstacle to this Democratic Congress actually addressing and solving working families' concerns, you, as Speaker of the House, must insist that Rep. Rangel step down from his Ways and Means chairmanship pending an investigation of his ethical lapses," they wrote. "The American people elected their Representatives to work for them, not to sit in Washington or at home collecting paychecks and playing politiics."

The New York Times said in a report last Thursday Rangel had failed to report more than $75,000 in income on his tax returns. The congressman had allegedly earned the money from a villa at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic which he rents out for $500 or more per night.

Rangel bought the property in 1988. Profits from the villa ranged from $7,600 in 1994 to $2,700 in 2004. His attorney, Lanny Davis, told the Times the lawmaker would likely make changes to his tax returns to include income from the villa.

The New York congressman was unaware that he had to declare the money as income, Davis said, and the resort, being an investment, entitled Rangel to deduct depreciation and taxes on the property. Payments from the villa were handled by Rangel's wife and were never sent directly to Rangel or his family, but used to pay for a mortgage, Davis added.

Davis said in a press conference on Tuesday that Rangel would pay back the taxes he owes the government from income from the villa, according to the Washington Post.

Pelosi has told Politico that she will not force Rangel out of his chairmanship. "Charlie Rangel is a very distinguished member of the House of Representatives. Whatever the leaders on their side say, he is very well-respected by members on both sides of the aisle," the Speaker said. The controversy follows a July report also by the Times that said Rangel had been enjoying below-market rates for the apartments in spite of aggressive evictions of less influential tenants. Rangel moved out of one apartment he had been using as an office, in violation of city and state regulations, and asked the House Ethics panel to determine if he had violated any rules. But he was beleaguered again by controversy after a Post report the same month accused him of inappropriately soliciting donations from businesses and foundations using the congressional letterhead. The contributions were for the Rangel Center at City College in New York.