Carter calling again for Rangel's ouster from Ways and Means chairmanship

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) intends to introduce a privileged resolution next week calling for a vote on removing Charles Rangel as head of the Ways and Means panel.

Carter was prompted by the recent ethics committee’s “public admonishment” of Rangel, who should have known better than to accept private travel expenses from a corporation, a two-page report on the matter concluded.

But last week’s decision was unrelated to the exhaustive ethics investigation into a host of questionable matters related to Rangel’s past tax practices, financial disclosures and personal property arrangements.

The former Texas District Court judge, in an interview with The Hill, explained his plan to reignite a lengthy crusade to force a House vote on Rangel’s fate atop the tax-writing panel.

“I’m planning on introducing a privileged resolution next week,” Carter said, arguing that the recent ethics scolding adds fodder to his call for Rangel’s temporary ouster pending an ethics ruling on the more serious charges.

“The other allegations were not addressed. The tax issues, the apartment issues, subsidized apartment, and using his public stationery to raise money for his private charity -- those are still pending,” Carter said.

The GOP Conference secretary noted that it will mark his third attempt in more than one year to force lawmakers to vote on denying the Ways and Means committee gavel to its powerful chairman, at least until the nearly 15-month ongoing investigation into Rangel is completed.

Carter’s most recent resolution in October 2009 to temporarily remove Rangel as committee head garnered two Democratic votes. Those were two more votes than a similar effort attracted in February 2009.

One well-heeled Democratic operative, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record, told The Hill that he wouldn’t be surprised if such a resolution garnered at least 20-30 politically vulnerable Democratic votes against Rangel.

“In an election year, I can see more members voting against Rangel,” the source explained to The Hill.

That change would be a far cry from the nearly unanimous Democratic showing of support for Rangel on Feb. 10, 2009, when 237 Democrats and five Republicans voted to table Carter’s first attempt to strip Rangel of his position. Seven Democrats -- Ethics committee members -- voted “present.”

Fast forward to Oct. 7, 2009, when Mississippi Democrats Travis Childers and Gene Taylor bucked Rangel and voted against effectively killing Carter’s resolution, following reports that the powerful chairman failed to disclose nearly $500,000 in income on his mandatory financial disclosure forms, amended in late 2009.

Rangel’s office did not comment for this story.

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