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Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), who does not have a partisan bone in his body, told Hefley that he was going to follow the rules and replace him. Democrats saw this as a great opportunity to protest and have refused to meet; thus the committee cannot function. That means DeLay cannot get a ruling from the Ethics Committee affirming what it told DeLay earlier, namely, that his action was permissible under the House Rules.

Some Republicans have suggested that the Ethics Committee does not want to meet because it would need to consider the case of Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA) who was convicted by a federal court. McDermott received a tape of an intercepted cellular phone call between House Speaker Gingrich and the House Republican Leadership. McDermott broke the law when he released the tap, eventually providing it to the news media. The House Rules might require him to lose his seat. While no Democrat likely would join Republicans to act against McDermott they would look foolish filing charges against DeLay while protecting one of their own who is a convicted criminal.

Representative Mike Pence (R-IN), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, which advances the conservative agenda, said last week that support for DeLay among conservatives ranges from intense to passionate. "If you hear that support for DeLay is waning among House conservatives it is just plain a lie," Pence said.

Representative Steve King (R-IA) has gone further. He told a gathering of conservatives last week that DeLay will not win this fight by being on the defensive. Representative King called on conservatives to take the offensive and, said he would be willing to be the point man for the offensive. Representative King, now in his second term, said DeLay has done nothing unlawful or unethical but there are some liberals who have done both and that conservatives should make an all-out effort to drive that point home. "Let me make my point clear. When you are on defense, then when the other team makes a single score, they might win. But when you have a good defense but are on offense it causes the other team to have to deal with what you are hammering home to them," King said.

That Steve King would step forth to assist DeLay is an indication of how deep the feeling is about the Majority Leader. King never has been close to DeLay. He is not considered one of his agents in the House. In fact, King always has been regarded as a good guy who pushes issues such as the flat tax. He never has been controversial. In Iowa King is not seen as a political figure drawn to controversy. That King has volunteered to go to the mat for DeLay indicates that Members who are not part of the leadership view the attack on DeLay as an attack upon them and upon the GOP agenda.

"Make no mistake about it. If DeLay goes down, our agenda goes with him," Pence said. Unless there is real substance to charges unknown to us the feeding frenzy among the Washington press corps might not work. What effect this will have in DeLay's own Congressional District is not clear. My guess is if his constituents think the media and the special interest groups are after DeLay they will support him because he has been effective. It is a case DeLay personally must make back home, even though our actions here in Washington, D.C. should help him.

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Paul M. Weyrich is the Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

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