House Leaders Talk Terms

Published: April 28, 2005

It's a sad day for the Senate when the House of Representatives sets the
example on how to get along. But this week the Senate majority leader,
Bill Frist, rejected a Democratic proposal to resolve the standoff on
judicial nominees by letting through most of the small number being
blocked. Right now in the Senate, it is clear that the only acceptable
compromise is one in which everyone agrees to do exactly what Senator
Frist wants. But in the House, Republican leaders made a more rational
call, deciding to end their stonewalling of an ethics committee
investigation of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader.

The ethics committee, which has an equal number of Republicans and
Democrats, used to have a rule that when its members split evenly on a
complaint, the inquiry would proceed. Republican leaders changed that
rule in January to say complaints should be automatically dismissed in
such cases.

Mr. DeLay has been caught taking expensive overseas trips that were
financed by lobbyists - a possible violation of House ethics rules. He
claims to have been unaware of the source of the money, but he has
already been admonished three times in the past for inappropriate
behavior, and it has been crystal clear that the change in the rules was
an attempt to protect him from another embarrassment - or worse. Speaker
Dennis Hastert, under pressure from his own members, as well as from the
Democrats, to do the right thing, made the obvious, reasonable choice in
backing down on this issue. Mr. Frist should take note.

Copyright 2005, The New York Times Company