This is making the rounds from tomorrow’s Washington Post (can’t find link at the moment):
Leadership aides and DeLay allies said that, in light of the Texas case and Abramoff’s plea agreements, they now expect DeLay to soon renounce claims to the leadership post he was forced to relinquish under GOP House rules when he was indicted in September – and certainly before a planned House Republican retreat on Feb. 9.
“The environment has changed. I don’t even need to qualify that,” said the GOP leadership member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he does not want to be seen as pressuring DeLay to step aside.
DeLay remains determined to reclaim his leadership position, and he is confident that he will be exonerated in Texas before early February, DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said Thursday. But there are few others who share that optimism, even among leadership members and aides who only weeks ago expressed the same confidence.
UPDATE: Here’s link. Read the whole thing. Replacement fight is lining up as Blunt v. Boehner v. Any Number of Other Possibilities.