Lewis, Rangel Break Ranks on CBC Jefferson StandWell, maybe this won’t be such a battle after all.
Tomorrow the Democratic Caucus will vote on whether Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-LA) should be stripped of his membership on the House Ways and Means Committee. There’s broad support for the move — with the notable exception of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose chairman complains that it would be a double standard to knock Jefferson off the committee before his indictment comes down.
CBC Chair Mel Watt (D-NC) had promised that the whole thing would “blow up in their face” if the Dem leadership pursued it. But it looks like some powerful members of his caucus have broken ranks.
Most prominent is Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who himself reportedly made the motion to have Jefferson booted off the committee. And Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) took the mission early on of trying to convince Jefferson to step down voluntarily. Those are among the two most esteemed members in the caucus.
Watt says he’s not backing down, but it’ll much harder to make his stand with those defections.
