Stay Put, Charlie Rangel

Let the House ethics committee do its job.

IF IT'S DEATH by a thousand cuts, the role of beleaguered Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee has 994 to go. The latest cut came last Thursday, when the New York Post revealed that the Harlem congressman had had a broken-down 1972 silver Mercedes-Benz sedan, whose registration expired in 2004, parked in the House of Representatives' garage for years. It is a violation of House rules to store a vehicle there for more than 45 days, and any vehicle parked there must be operable. George Dalley, a longtime aide to Mr. Rangel, told us that because the space occupied by the vintage clunker, one of six available to Mr. Rangel, was not reserved, the "imputed income" requirement does not apply.

Still, this latest blunder just adds to the pile of woes accumulating at Mr. Rangel's feet. There was the deal with the New York City developer that garnered him four apartments in a Harlem building at below-market rates. He had used one of the apartments as a campaign office but has given it up because using it for a purpose other than a primary residence violated state law. Next came the revelation that Mr. Rangel was inappropriately using House stationery to request meetings to discuss a school of public service that bears his name. Then came the heretofore undeclared vacation villa in the Dominican Republic for which he hadn't paid taxes on $75,000 in rental income -- an oversight Mr. Rangel remedied by writing checks for a total of $10,800 to the IRS and New York state last week. Lastly, there was the underreporting of the value of a condominium he and his wife owned in Florida and the failure to fully account for privately sponsored trips on House travel disclosure forms.

Mr. Rangel has called on the House ethics committee to look into the issues raised by the apartments, the stationery and the villa. That hasn't stopped Republicans the New York Times and the New York Post in his home town, and other newspapers around the state from calling on him to relinquish the chairmanship of Ways and Means. We certainly understand why they're demanding his gavel. But the acting chair of the ethics committee has announced that a review of Mr. Rangel's actions will begin today. The bipartisan body has plenty to look into, and it should deliver its opinion as quickly as possible. Until that happens, Mr. Rangel is right to stay put.