The Hill News

Two high-ranking Democrats on Thursday said they have no qualms with the House ethics committee's conviction of Rep. Charles Rangel on 11 violations of House ethics rules and their recommendation of censure. 

Vice President Joe Biden said the committee's decision is "hard to argue against," even though he counts Rangel (D-N.Y.) as a friend.

{mosads}"He is a friend. I give you my word, I don't know the detail, the charges, but when the ethics committee run â€" a bipartisan committee rules that he violated X number of rules of the House, then, you know, it's hard to argue against," Biden said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Biden is the first member of the White House to comment on the Rangel verdict since it was handed down this week.

Some members of Congress had expressed concern that the investigation of Rangel took two years to complete and Rangel, as well as some ethics committee members, raised questions about the 20-term lawmaker's ! lack of legal representation at trial.

But Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said this week that the process has been fair, signaling the House is poised to punish Rangel. 

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on CNN's "John King USA" that the ethics process "worked" and that Rangel had been appropriately punished.

"But this is a sad day for him. But it was an appropriate action by the ethics committee, in the sense that they found violations, and they took the action they deemed to be appropriate," he said. "The House will now consider it."

A majority vote of the full House must be taken for Rangel to be censured. The House has not yet scheduled a vote! .