Rangel Denies He's Giving Up Chairmanship

Congressman Charles Rangel tonight denied a report that he is giving up his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee—though he wouldn’t, in speaking to Politico, rule out doing so in the future. “I can’t make all those promises at my age,” said the New York Democrat, admonished by an ethics panel last week for allowing corporations to pay for official travel to the Caribbean.

Rangel also told NBC News he’ll remain chairman, but the network’s sources say he will indeed resign after Democratic leaders have asked him to step aside—and, one says, “we don’t have the votes to save him” if it comes to that. ABC News, meanwhile, says the move will only be temporary, until various ethics investigations into Rangel are complete.
(More Charles Rangel stories.)