"The burgeoning Jack Abramoff corruption scandal has made it all but certain that Rep. Tom DeLay will not return as House majority leader," the Houston Chronicle reports.
"With DeLay having been closely associated with the fallen Washington power broker and former DeLay aides implicated in the scandal, Republicans are worried that DeLay could become the poster boy for the 'culture of corruption' that Democrats cite as they rally for the 2006 elections."
DeLay has been trying to hold off a final decision as he fights an indictment over possible campaign finance violations.
Hotline On Call: "DeLay has a solid group of about fifty lawmakers who will move heaven and earth for him and who have been mightily effective at convincing colleagues not to agitate for a leadership election. But with the Abramoff boot dropping today, signs abound that the House Republican caucus realizes that another, well, delay... simply isn't tenable."