Honey, I shrunk the Rangel portrait

WE HEAR: Rep. Charles Rangel’s portrait that hangs in the House Ways and Means Committee hearing room is suffering from a case of shrinkage.

A Ways and Means staffer confirms to ITK that the painting of the New York Democrat, the committee’s former chairman, had to be professionally stretched after shrinking — either from the air conditioning in the House Longworth Office Building or from a steam pipe. As of last week, the image of Rangel was still getting a little TLC.

At a recent hearing, current Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) jested of the Rangel bungle, “I think we should say to the former chairman that our affection for you has not shrunk."

In an email, Rangel's communications director, Hannah Kim, tells ITK of her 82-year-old boss, "Whether or not his portrait is shrinking won't change the fact that the congressman is still the best-looking chairman displayed on the committee walls."