Jeff Birnbaum's headline in The Washington Post tomorrow morning says it all.

Now that it's clear that his controversial private-paid trips abroad will be put under a microscope in Congress, Tom DeLay is in serious danger of being declared in violation of House ethics rules, legal experts say.

Lawyers who specialize in ethics cases believe that the Republican House majority leader from Texas might be in technical breach of at least a few congressional regulations. According to published reports, a registered foreign agent paid for one of DeLay's overseas trips and a registered lobbyist used his credit card to pay for another foreign airfare -- actions the rules prohibit. DeLay may also have accepted gifts that exceeded congressional limits, taken an expense-paid trip overseas for longer than the rules allow and not disclosed all of the benefits he received.

"It appears from news reports that there were aspects of his trips that did not comply with the ethics rules," said Jan W. Baran, a lawyer and ethics expert.

[...]

"DeLay's gotten himself in a terrible predicament," he added. "At the very least, he's been taken advantage of by lobbyists. He has a lot of explaining to do."

How do the Republicans respond to news that their leader will most likely be admonished, and perhaps even censured, in the near future? Blame the Democrats, of course! Alexander Bolton and Patrick O'Connor have the story for The Hill:

Republican lawmakers who met yesterday to discuss a proposal by Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to reverse changes to House ethics rules said it is inevitable that their colleagues will file complaints against Democrats once the ethics panel is again operational.

Republicans said that not one of their colleagues has volunteered to file a complaint against a Democrat but that they have no doubt that will in fact happen.

Some GOP legislators are upset that they were forced to back down on the ethics rules, handing House Democrats a huge political victory. Others, including Hastert, believed that keeping the rules in place would have inflicted significant, long-term damage on House Republicans.

“They’re angry about it,” Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) said as he walked out of the meeting.

It will be very difficult for the Republicans in the House to spin their way out of this predicament. Regardless of the small infractions of some lesser-ranking Democratic members of Congress, the fact is that their Majority Leader acted unethically -- and perhaps illegally. Should DeLay be indicted (still a real possibility), 2006 will play as 1994 redux. As it is, even the specter of ethics violations surronding DeLay scares the GOP witless, and you don't want to be a scared party. The scared party can't legislate. The scared party can't govern. Above all, the scared party can't win elections.