DeLay ethics rebuke steps up pressure on House 'Hammer'

WASHINGTON -- Tom DeLay was in trouble. The House majority leader was several votes shy of passing the Medicare prescription drug package that President Bush desperately wanted last December as Bush headed into his reelection campaign.

DeLay, a Texas Republican, held the vote open for three hours, keeping pressure on recalcitrant Republicans until 6 on a Saturday morning before winning the critical support of Representative Nick Smith of Michigan after a suggestion to Smith that a ''yes" vote would mean DeLay's endorsement of Smith's son in a congressional race. The bill passed, 220 to 215.

They don't call DeLay ''the Hammer" for nothing. Loathed by Democrats and alternately feared and revered by Republicans, DeLay, a former pest exterminator, is widely regarded as one of the most effective vote-wranglers the House has ever seen. His ironfisted control over House Republicans is credited with ensuring many GOP victories despite the party's narrow majority. But DeLay's aggressive efforts to expand Republican influence, ranging from a ''K Street Project" aimed at installing more Republicans in lobby shops to his efforts to redraw congressional district lines in Texas, may now prove to be his downfall.

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the ethics committee, has chastised DeLay for three episodes that the bipartisan panel said violated House rules. And while Republicans are rallying around him, some legislators and analysts think DeLay may be on the verge of a political slide.

In unusually harsh and personal language toward a colleague, Democrats are urging the GOP to oust DeLay as leader. On a party-line vote of 210 to 182, the GOP killed a Democratic bid yesterday for an outside counsel to probe the majority leader. The conservative group Judicial Watch called last week for DeLay's departure not only as leader, but also as a congressman.

The ethics panel, in a unanimous, bipartisan vote Wednesday night, rebuked DeLay for calling the Federal Aviation Administration to interfere in a Texas political dispute and for hosting a fund-raiser attended by corporate executives with an interest in a federal energy bill. The panel earlier admonished DeLay for allegedly linking Smith's vote on the Medicare bill to the endorsement of Smith's son.

House legislators in both parties said they expected DeLay to survive the immediate fallout from the ethics committee reports, especially because Congress is distracted with finishing its work before heading to the campaign trail. But DeLay's ethical lapses make it difficult for him to advance his career and run for House speaker someday, they said, and the leader may face more troubles yet.

Three DeLay associates have been indicted in a Texas criminal investigation into alleged laundering of corporate money to Texas legislative campaigns through TRMPAC, a committee DeLay founded. If Delay, who has not been interviewed in the case, is indicted, he must step down as leader, according to House rules.

''He's always survived incidents that have been spread out one at a time," but after three admonishments in one week by the ethics panel, DeLay is more vulnerable, said Lou Dubose, coauthor of ''The Hammer: Tom DeLay -- God, Money, and the Rise of the Republican Congress."

''I think he's in real trouble down here."

DeLay has called the case a politically-motivated attempt to dilute GOP power and is asking the ethics panel to disregard a related complaint filed by an outgoing House Democrat.

Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, House Democratic whip, compared DeLay's floor-managing tactics to former President Nixon's enemies' list. The Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, said DeLay ''will go to all lengths to abuse power and to undermine even a bipartisan, unanimous decision of the ethics committee." Both Democratic leaders have called on DeLay to step down from his post.

''Being a serial rebuker is not a good place for a leader," said Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Newton, predicting that House Republicans eventually would dump DeLay. ''Your base are the people who are with you when you're wrong," Frank said. But ''this is a guy who is feared, not loved."

DeLay is known for his no-nonsense approach to running the House and his unapologetic drive to get his agenda approved. Moderate Republicans grumble privately that DeLay does not accommodate their views. Representative Chris Shays, Republican of Connecticut, has said he was passed over for a committee chairmanship after championing a campaign finance overhaul.

With the press corps, DeLay is a stickler for rules he sets. His weekly briefings require precisely on-time attendance and often are scheduled to prevent reporters from attending the competing question-and-answer period with Hoyer. Only one reporter per news organization is allowed to attend his sessions. DeLay's coffee mug, decorated with a ''No Whining" message, punctuates his defiant attitude during the meetings.

But for DeLay loyalists, the rewards can be generous. Republican legislators say DeLay has a nurturing side that endears him to his team. He has arranged for food to be available to his caucus during late-night House sessions, and several colleagues said he has been invaluable in their campaigns.

DeLay was the first member of Congress to contribute to the congressional campaign of Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, in 1994, Foley recalled. Although DeLay once got ''angry" when Foley voted against a trade bill DeLay wanted, the leader is generally understanding, Foley said. ''He's the classic country-club manager. He's always making sure members' needs are cared for."

Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, said DeLay is a ''good friend" to many in the caucus. ''If you have a difficulty -- political or personal -- he is someone who will not only listen, but will be there for you," Diaz-Balart said.

But DeLay's critics say his biggest weapon is money. Cross the majority leader, they say, and you get no financial help from him. But for those who play along, DeLay can raise lots of money in campaign donations.