Charles Rangel To Step Down From Key Tax Post

Democratic Representative Charles Rangel requested a leave of absence as chairman of the House of Representatives Ways, and Means Committee in the face of growing calls from Republicans, and some fellow Democrats to resign amid concerns that his ethics problems would hurt fellow party members in November's congressional elections.

Last week, the House ethics committee publicly admonished Rangel for taking corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007, and 2008, violating the chamber's gift rules. The panel is also investigating other issues, including his use of a rent-controlled apartment, and his fund-raising for the Charles Rangel Center for Public Service in New York.

Rangel had defended himself by pointing out that the committee's report said he did not know the trips were underwritten by corporations, though two of his staffers did. Democrat Pete Stark, one of the chamber's most liberal members, is next in the line of seniority to lead the committee that originates U.S. tax legislation.