The Hill News

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called it a "sad day" when House members have to "sit in trial" of one of their own, referring to the upcoming public ethics hearing involving Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.)

The top-ranking Republican and fellow GOP lawmakers have been surprisingly mum since the ethics committee revealed it would hold an open hearing on alleged ethics violations that an investigative panel determined Rangel has committed.

Boehner said "this isn't really about Charlie Rangel. This is a sad day when the U.S. House of Representatives has to sit in trial of one of its own members, and it is one of the biggest broken promises of Speaker Pelosi and her team who promised to 'drain the swamp.' The fact is, the swamp is not drained."

Boehner was one of the first lawmakers to challenge Rangel's continued reign atop the powerful Ways and Means committee since the ethics committee formed a subpanel to investigate a number of c! harges including failure to pay taxes on a rental property in the Dominican Republic.

That point became moot in early March, when vulnerable House Democrats started to turn on the fourth-most-senior lawmaker, at which time, Rangel agreed to step aside "temporarily" pending the outcome of the ethics investigation.

Thus far, at least two House Democrats have called on Rangel to resign. Democratic Reps. Betty Sutton (Ohio) and Walt Minnick (Idaho) have been the first to call for his ouster.