DeLay resigns as criminal investigations take their toll

TOM DeLAY, once one of the most powerful and feared conservatives in the US Congress, yesterday said he was resigning from the House of Representatives in the wake of two criminal investigations that have dimmed his re-election prospects.

“I think I could have won this seat but it would have been nasty,” Mr DeLay said in an interview with Fox News, “It would have cost a fortune to do it.”

Mr DeLay, known for his fundraising prowess and a bare-knuckled political style, which earned him the nickname The Hammer, was a key force in advancing the conservative agenda of fellow Texan President George W Bush.

Mr Bush said Republicans would not suffer from Mr DeLay’s resignation.

“Our party will continue to succeed because we are the party of ideas,” Mr Bush told reporters at the White House.

Mr DeLay relinquished the majority leader position - the number two post in the House - after being charged last year with participating in a scheme to illegally fund state legislative races in Texas.

He decided in January against trying to get the leadership post back as an election-year corruption scandal staggered Republicans and emboldened minority Democrats.

More recently, former DeLay aide Tony Rudy said he had conspired with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others to corrupt public officials, and he promised to help the broad federal investigation of bribery and lobbying fraud that already has resulted in three convictions.

Neither Mr Rudy, Mr Abramoff, nor anyone connected with the investigation has accused Mr DeLay of breaking the law, but Mr Rudy confessed he had taken actions while working in the majority leader’s office that were illegal.

Democrats said Mr DeLay’s plans to step down marked more than the end to one man’s career in Congress.

“Tom DeLay’s decision to leave Congress is just the latest piece of evidence that the Republican Party is a party in disarray, a party out of ideas and out of energy,” said Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Either way, Mr DeLay’s concern about the potential loss of a Houston-area seat, long in Republican hands, reflected a deeper worry among party strategists.

After a dozen years in the majority, they face a strong challenge from Democrats this autumn, at a time when Mr Bush’s public support is sagging, and when the Abramoff scandal has helped send congressional approval ratings tumbling.