GOP tries to end ethics deadlock

WASHINGTON -- The House prepared to end an ethics committee stalemate Wednesday night as Republicans backed House Speaker Dennis Hastert's abandonment of new rules that brought the GOP months of political grief.\nRepublican leaders planned a vote Wednesday evening to reinstate prior rules for investigating unethical conduct by lawmakers.\n"I'm willing to step back," Hastert said after a closed-door meeting with members of the GOP rank and file at which he stressed the need to end the controversy.\n"Now that we again will have bipartisan rules in place, we can begin to rebuild Americans trust in the ethics committee," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Members of the House must allow the ... committee to do its job without partisan rancor and ensure that its deliberations command the respect they deserve.\nThe Republican lawmakers had endured weeks of intense Democratic criticism -- and hometown editorials -- complaining that the GOP rule changes were an attempt to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay from further investigation.\nDeLay, R-Texas, was admonished by the committee on three matters last year, and new questions have been raised about whether a lobbyist paid for some of his foreign travel in violation of the rules. DeLay has denied wrongdoing and has volunteered to appear before the ethics committee.\nRepublicans leaving their weekly meeting in the Capitol basement generally praised Hastert for pivoting on the issue. DeLay seemed annoyed at the crowd of reporters.\n"You guys better get out of my way," he said. "Where's our security?"\nSeveral hours later, DeLay seemed to be in a jovial mood at his weekly news conference, where he pledged to support the reversal and said he was pulling together 10 years of travel records for a voluntary submission to the ethics committee.\nHe denied playing any role in the partisan rules changes that passed the House in January or in the reversal Wednesday.\n"This has been the speaker's project all along," he said.\nThe rules in effect before January allowed investigations to begin if the ethics chairman and ranking minority member failed to act on a complaint in 45 days and no other member requested full committee consideration. The Republican changes provided for an automatic dismissal in case of a tie, a procedure that Hastert said was needed to avoid keeping members in limbo.\nIn a letter to Pelosi, Hastert wrote that the changes pushed through in January were an attempt to correct inequities.\nGiven Democratic opposition, he proposed reverting to the old rules, "leaving the unfairness inherent in the old system in place."\nAt the same time, he said he hoped the ethics committee could recommend changes for the future.\nRep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who supported the Republican retreat, said the GOP move "doesn't mean Democrats will stop going after DeLay."\nHefley was dumped by Hastert as chairman of the evenly divided committee after the panel admonished DeLay. He has been one of the few Republicans who opposed the rule changes from the beginning.\nRepublican lawmakers, who would not be identified by name because their meeting was closed, said some GOP congressmen didn't want to stop the fight, believing the party could still win the political battle.\nLawmakers said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, backed Hastert in the meeting and noted that a functioning ethics committee wouldn't only open the door for an investigation of DeLay. It would also permit further action on an ethics complaint filed last year against Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington.\nMcDermott is accused of violating House rules by leaking to reporters a taped telephone conversation.