Congress To Keep Chaplains

Republicans are striking at the sins of Congress but will spare those responsible for the souls of its members.

The Republican leadership has decided, after some debate, not to do away with the House and Senate chaplains, fulltime positions that cost taxpayers $289,000 a year, GOP staff aides revealed.

GOP House transition leader Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa had earlier raised the possibility of replacing the current chaplains with voluntary spiritual leaders recruited from different denominations.

But the reformers ran into the weight of tradition and the realization that nobody wanted to be put in the sticky position of deciding what religious groups would qualify to lead the nation’s lawmakers in prayer.