Rep. Charlie Rangel
Rangel’s Colleagues: No on Censure. Rep. G.K. Butterfield is already on the record. No on censure. Reps. Lacy Clay and John Lewis are against censure. Rep. Bobby Scott wrote 74 pages see here http://tinyurl.com/25zc2dv many of which indicate a censure punishment is too harsh and unprecedented. Del. Donna Christensen, though she can’t vote on the measure, is against censure. Reps. Chaka Fattah, Jose Serrano and Greg Meeks are against censure. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is against censure. Reps. Kendrick Meek, David Scott, Ed Towns and Al Green say they have not decided yey but they sure didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about the idea.
Many colleagues of Rep. Charlie Rangel are hoping there will be something worked out before a censure vote hits the floor of the House. Will motions and amendments be offered to counter censure? As Rep. Rangel fights behind the scenes to lobby against censure many of his friends in the House are openly aginst the idea. House Ethics Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren sprinted from NBC Capitol Hill Shawna Thomas and into the House Dem Caucus to avoid a simple question: When will Ethics move the Rangel bill to the House floor. Last night they did. Though the conventional wisdom of the last ten minutes says the House is unlikely to vote on the Rangel censure today it certainly looks like it will happen some time this week. I’ve yet to find a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who will tell me they are voting in favor of the censure. Today, I’ll ask the question of members who are not in the CBC to see if the feeling is more widespread.
Unlike the communicative and straight forward shop of Rep. Maxine Waters, Rangel’s folks have not realeased the “top 10 Reasons” against censure list. Who knows why.
