Desperate House Members

Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader, may soon face indictment charges in an Austin, Texas investigation that has already resulted in the indictments of three of his friends and several companies accused of illegally using corporate campaign contributions to help Republicans win state legislative seats. Under current House rules (which the Republicans adopted in the 1990s when they were in the minority) leadership members facing a felony indictment must step aside immediately.

Today, after 2 1/2 hours of debate and a voice vote, the Republicans (now the majority) voted for and passed a new procedure that allows House party leaders 30 days to deliberate if one of their colleagues were indicted on a felony charge. At the end of the 30 days, the leaders would decide whether to ask the person under indictment to step aside at least temporarily.

With a straight face, a spokesperson for Rep. Henry Bonilla of Texas (who proposed the rule change) stated, "Congressman Bonilla's rule change is designed to prevent political manipulation of the legislative process."