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LAS VEGAS - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid assailed the Republican-led Congress for what he called its ethical and institutional failings.
"I believe this is the most corrupt Congress in the history of this country," Reid, D-Nev., said in an interview published in Sunday's Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Not only corrupt ethically, but corrupt in not having institutional respect for what our founding fathers established ... Whatever the White House wants, they try to deliver," Reid said.
Reid also criticized Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, suggesting he's a rubber-stamp for the Bush administration.
"I like Bill Frist as a person. The problem is you can't have the leader of the Senate chosen by the White House," Reid said.
"When he got this job, he had had limited experience on the Senate floor. And he was leaving. He had term-limited himself. So he has no institutional integrity ... He doesn't feel as strongly about the Senate. He does whatever the White House wants him to do," Reid added.
Frist spokeswoman Amy Call declined to comment.
Ron Bonjean, communications director for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, cited sweeping budget and defense agreements announced Sunday by congressional leaders.
"The Senate minority leader's lack of actual ideas and a positive agenda has caused him to go haywire with negative partisan statements to try to distract from the amazing accomplishments of this Congress," Bonjean said.
Caught in a recent wave of ethics investigations and indictments are Frist, R-Tenn.; former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas; and Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee. All have denied any wrongdoing. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., resigned after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government work to defense contractors.
But several Democrats figure prominently in Justice Department inquiries. The investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff could take down lawmakers from both parties as well as members of the administration.
The only regret Reid acknowledged about his first year as minority leader was calling President Bush a loser in a May speech to a class of Las Vegas students. He later issued an apology.
"I felt that I made a mistake, and I tried to rectify it as quickly as I could in calling the president a loser because it was to the wrong audience and it was just the wrong thing," Reid told the Review-Journal.
"I believe this is the most corrupt Congress in the history of this country," Reid, D-Nev., said in an interview published in Sunday's Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Not only corrupt ethically, but corrupt in not having institutional respect for what our founding fathers established ... Whatever the White House wants, they try to deliver," Reid said.
Reid also criticized Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, suggesting he's a rubber-stamp for the Bush administration.
"I like Bill Frist as a person. The problem is you can't have the leader of the Senate chosen by the White House," Reid said.
"When he got this job, he had had limited experience on the Senate floor. And he was leaving. He had term-limited himself. So he has no institutional integrity ... He doesn't feel as strongly about the Senate. He does whatever the White House wants him to do," Reid added.
Frist spokeswoman Amy Call declined to comment.
Ron Bonjean, communications director for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, cited sweeping budget and defense agreements announced Sunday by congressional leaders.
"The Senate minority leader's lack of actual ideas and a positive agenda has caused him to go haywire with negative partisan statements to try to distract from the amazing accomplishments of this Congress," Bonjean said.
Caught in a recent wave of ethics investigations and indictments are Frist, R-Tenn.; former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas; and Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee. All have denied any wrongdoing. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., resigned after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government work to defense contractors.
But several Democrats figure prominently in Justice Department inquiries. The investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff could take down lawmakers from both parties as well as members of the administration.
The only regret Reid acknowledged about his first year as minority leader was calling President Bush a loser in a May speech to a class of Las Vegas students. He later issued an apology.
"I felt that I made a mistake, and I tried to rectify it as quickly as I could in calling the president a loser because it was to the wrong audience and it was just the wrong thing," Reid told the Review-Journal.
