Wrangling Charlie Rangel, Part 3

At this hour, NBC's Chuck Todd is reporting that Charlie Rangel will "voluntarily" give up his gavel on the House Ways and Means Committee.  If true (and there's pretty good reason to believe it is) then that's a good thing.  I've been saying Rangel was in trouble on this one for months, and looks like he's finally doing the right thing.

At this point a number of Democrats were calling on him to step aside, including fellow New Yorker Rep. Mike Arcuri.

Arcuri, who stood by the chairman during the ethics investigation, said his resignation would be in the best interests of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

"We have far too many critical issues to deal with right now ranging from the economy to health care reform, and can’t afford to allow this investigation to distract us,” Arcuri said.

He added, “As a former district attorney, I know that in matters such as this it is always important to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Given the House Ethics Committee’s recent decision to reprimand Congressman Rangel, I feel strongly that he should step down as chairman of the Ways & Means Committee.”

Rangel didn't really have much of a choice, frankly.  But it at least puts an end to this mess.