Yesterday Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted on a fundraising conspiracy charge. The conspiracy is a result of allegations that DeLay setup a committee in his home state of Texas, Texans for a Republican Majority, and used the committee to take illegal corporate donations and laundered the money before passing it on to Republican candidates in the 2002 race for the Texas legislature. This effort helped Republicans win control of the Texas legislature who then passed legislation, allegedly with the assistance of DeLay, that helped Texas Republicans be elected to the United States House of Representatives.
DeLay, who earned the nickname “the Hammer,” was a key Republican legislative leader and was largely credited with unifying the Republican Party to guarantee legislative victories. To accomplish this, DeLay was an aggressive leader—frequently removing Republicans that did not vote with the Party leadership from committees, preventing those who did not meet fundraising goals from advancing in the Party, and telling lobbyists who did not identify as Republicans to move elsewhere. With the Republican administration already facing growing problems over Iraq and the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, the removal of DeLay may further restrict the Republican’s legislative agenda.
DeLay, who was required to resign from his leadership post by Republican Party rules, has been replaced by Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, who was recently named one of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a progressive legal watchdog. According to CREW’s recent Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress report, Blunt has repeatedly attempted to use his position to benefit his family members. Among the ethics violations detailed in the report are legislative provisions passed to benefit clients served by Blunt’s son Andrew, who lobbies on behalf of UPS, FedEx, Altria (Philip Morris) and Representative Blunt’s efforts to funnel money through a Missouri party committee into his son Matt’s campaign for governor.
