Until he stepped down as U.S. House majority leader in September and then announced in January that he would not attempt to reclaim his position, Rep. Tom DeLay was arguably the most powerful member of the House of Representatives.
Even after he was rebuked three times in 2004 by the House ethics committee, DeLay had no trouble winning re-election to the No. 2 position in the House Republican leadership.
Only one member of the conference, Christopher Shays of Connecticut, called on DeLay to step down in the face of continuing ethical questions, including whether lobbyist Jack Abramoff