The Conversation: Will Nancy Pelosi Lose Control of the House? Politico Answers
Politico's Marty Kady on the impact of ethics investigations in Congress.
August 2, 2010— -- With two top Democrats in the House of Representatives facing embarrassing ethics allegations, party leaders are facing growing questions about their leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi's earlier promise to "make this the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history."
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is facing an ethics trial this fall on charges that include failing to pay taxes and doing legislative favors for a donor.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, is also facing a trial this fall. She's under investigation for a conflict of interest in which she allegedly helped a bank where her husband was a board member and stockholder.
Many Democrats have distanced themselves from Rangel and Waters in the wake of these allegations, but not everyone is pleased by the investigations into two African American members of Congress.
"There's also this sensitive question of race here," Politico's Marty Kady said in today's Conversation. "Politico reported this weekend that a lot of Congressional Black Caucus members are a little upset that the Ethics Committee has targeted two CBC members."
Still, the ethics allegations hardly help Democrats' case as the mid-term elections draw closer. Nancy Pelosi told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that that she is "not nervous at all" about November, but Kady says that Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives.
"The House is definitely in play. It all just depends on what the mood is of the American people heading into November," Kady told ABC's David Muir in today's Conversation.
Politicians from both sides say the Democrats are losing seats come November, but opinion differs on whether Republicans will win the needed 39 seats to take control.
"At the low end, when you ask Democrats who are supposed to be optimistic, they're saying, 'We could lose 25 or 30 seats.' At the high end, if you talk to fairly ambitious Republicans, they could win 40, 45, 50 seats," said Kady.
We hope you'll watch the full Conversation and weigh in yourself in the comments below.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.