Washington Wire notes that House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office late yesterday "emailed Washington reporters a news bulletin from Roll Call reporting that Hastert was considering removing the scandal-tarred Rep. Bob Ney as chairman of the House Administration Committee. Some reporters received the email ahead of the Capitol Hill newspaper's own email of the story."
"The speaker can't oust Ney from the chairmanship. But he can ask House Republicans to vote to do so when they gather Feb. 2 for a leadership election to replace House Majority Leader Tom DeLay."