Anti-Vagrancy Law Doesn't Apply in Congress?

The indicted Majority Leader Tom DeLay is a vagrant in Congress. Even though he was forced to resign his leadership office, he continues to try to run things. His staff is still scheduling House operations and sending out niggling memos to the troops. DeLay wedged himself into a meeting on budget cuts with key House committee members, some of whom said they were "dumbfounded, confused, and even angry" that DeLay would assume he was welcome.

"My issue is having an indicted former leader hanging around the leadership offices," an anonymous House Republican is quoted in the WashPost. "This guy did so much good work getting us into the majority. Why does he want to stick around? He's not helping us."

"Tom DeLay should not be in a position of authority," said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who called for DeLay's resignation from the House leadership even before he was indicted. "He should not be calling the shots or driving the agenda, and if he is, that would be unfortunate .... Ethics is everything. If you don't have a strong moral standing, if you don't have an ethical foundation, you just crumble."

Much of this discontent is expected to culminate this a.m. in a half-day Republican "retreat" (ahem) at the Library of Congress, where moderates are expected to air their discontent.