DeLay takes one for the team

That is if he is not aquitted.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is signaling to new Majority Leader John Boehner and other House leaders that he won't seek a return to leadership if he is acquitted of Texas money-laundering charges.

Associates said that DeLay instead will use his position on the Appropriations Committee to boost NASA spending, especially for his hometown Johnson Space Center in Houston, and will move back into the unofficial post as head of the Texas House delegation.

"He'll do what he does best," says an adviser. "He's a team player." There had been indications that he would seek a return, but his allies said that he will instead act as a superdiplomat and whip for Boehner and House Speaker Dennis Hastert. - The Stakeholder