BREAKING NEWS: Charlie Rangel asking for "leave" from committee chair....

According to WCBS TV House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel has asked Speaker Pelosi for a "leave of absence" from the position, after being reprimanded for ethics violations.

Plagued by ethics scandals, New York Congressman Charles Rangel gave up the gavel on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

For now, the move is only temporary.

It certainly did not come as a shock, but Rep. Rangel's announcement reverberated from Washington to New York and around the country.

"I have, this morning, sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi, asking her to grant me a leave of absence," Rangel said.

There was then a salvo from the Republican minority leader of the House.

"The ethics committee has found that Mr. Rangel violated the rules of the House and he's been admonished," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. "As a long-time member of the House he does not deserve to be a member of the Democrat leadership nor as chairman of this committee."

Seems a long time coming for a tax cheat and taxpayer fund stealing elitist from New York. But yet they say it's only temporary.....sigh.