Quote of note:

"We fumbled the ball badly," said one senior Republican official who spoke anonymously because he did not want to be viewed as critical of the leadership.

Do you know how sad it is that such a statement would be viewed as "critical of the leadership?" DO you know how sad it is that someone would have to consider such a thing when making a blatantly obvious statement?

House Republicans Weigh Vote on Ethics Changes
By CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON, April 26 - House Republican leaders on Tuesday moved toward reversing rules changes that have paralyzed the ethics committee, a decision that could clear the way to an investigation of the overseas travel of Representative Tom DeLay, the majority leader, and other House members.

Lawmakers and other senior officials said that Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and other leaders had concluded that the only way out of the ethics impasse was to abandon the rules changes opposed by Democrats who have refused to allow the committee to get to work.

Republicans say the ethics fight, combined with the attention that has been focused on Mr. DeLay over fund-raising and travel irregularities, has not only become a distraction but also a political liability that they want to defuse.

"Obviously it is an issue that we very, very much want to address," said Representative David Dreier of California, the Rules Committee chairman, who would not discuss details of the leadership strategy. Congressional aides said the idea could be presented to the rank and file as early as Wednesday and voted on this week.