In a super-secret session last January that exluded house Dems, the Republicans in the house voted to relax the ethics rules that require a majority vote to open an investigation and impose a limit on the time an investigation can last. They did this to protect the known corrupt Tom DeLay.

The House Ethics Committee has been the focus of fierce controversy since it admonished DeLay last fall for other questionable activities. The chairman at the time, Representative Joel Hefley, a Colorado Republican (considered an independent GOP voice) was later removed from his post by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois. The move was derided by Democrats who charged that Hefley was being punished for rebuking DeLay.

Without the support of at least one Democrat, the probe on DeLay cannot begin. The Dems hope to force the Republicans to repeal the unilateral changes that are making the Republicans appear as if they believed they were above the law.