Stepping aside

Under pressure from Republicans and fellow Democrats, Rep. Charles Rangel is stepping aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

In a press conference Wednesday, the Harlem congressman stated that he wanted to spare his colleagues the trouble of having to defend him during upcoming elections. Mr. Rangel said he asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a "leave of absence until such time as the ethics committee completes its work."

The House ethics panel has its work cut out. Last week it said that the congressman violated House standards of conduct when he allowed corporations to fund his 2007 and 2008 trips to conferences in the Caribbean. Mr. Rangel's defense is that he did not know the corporations were sponsoring the trips.

When the committee decided that, at the least, his staff members were aware of the sponsorships, the congressman said that he should not be held accountable for what they may have known. That is a poor excuse which certainly would not be countenanced by members of a congressional panel investigating corporate wrongdoing.

The committee is also asking questions about his role in raising funds for a college center to bear his name. It has been looking into late financial disclosure filings revealing the congressman's failure to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments. Concerns have been expressed about his use of rent-controlled apartments in New York City.

Mr. Rangel is entitled to have all these matters fairly investigated. But the pattern is disturbing, certainly unbecoming for the head of the powerful committee that writes tax legislation. He cannot head Ways and Means under those circumstances.

Thus has a senior member of New York's congressional delegation fallen from grace. This is further embarrassment to the Empire State, already chafing from political scandals.