 Tom DeLay is hugely popular within the Republican Party |
Or it was until Wednesday when he stepped aside to fight criminal conspiracy charges.
The House majority leader's office is influential by definition - but under Tom DeLay it has taken on extra force.
The former pest control officer's power of persuasion is legendary.
As chief whip of the Republican party in 1995-97, he managed to marshal through 300 bills out of a target of 303 - an impressive performance for the man aptly nicknamed "The Hammer".
The 58-year-old Texan majority leader is an aggressive, energetic and forceful operator on the floor of the House.
He is loathed by half the Americans and loved by the other half, says the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.
He is also a key fundraiser for his fellow Texan, President George W Bush.
And he uses this talent to shepherd voting majorities through, sometimes promising, sometimes threatening to withhold or withdraw financial incentives to reluctant colleagues in the House, says our correspondent.
The president has depended on him to get legislation through - a job made the more difficult when popular support in Mr Bush has declined and Congress is needed to authorise mammoth bills to pay for the Iraq war effort and Hurricane Katrina.
No wonder the White House is standing by his man at their (mutual) hour of need.
'Shameless' indictment
The indictment alleges Mr DeLay - two other accomplices - used corporate funds to influence a general election in Texas in 2002.
"The defendants entered into an agreement with each other or with TRMPAC [Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee] to make a political contribution in violation of the Texas election code," says the four-page document.
Three weeks ago, TRMPAC - formed by Mr DeLay - was also charged with illegally accepting $120,000 of corporate money whilst the Congressman was helping Republicans win control of the Texas legislature for the first time since the post-Civil War reconstruction era.
State law prohibits the use of corporate contributions to advocate the election or defeat of candidates.
The historic victory was followed by a Delay-inspired remapping of congressional districts in Texas.
It upset the Democrats so much they took refuge in neighbouring states for a time in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to deny the house a quorum and thus prevent the perceived gerrymandering.
The exercise sent more Republicans from Texas to the US House of Representatives - a Republican majority of 21-11 in the current Congress.
Mr DeLay has accused the prosecutor, Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, of pursuing a political vendetta against him.
But according to Dallas Morning News political correspondent Wayne Slater, there is scant evidence of that.
He points out that Mr Earle has indicted two-to-three times more Democrats than Republicans during his tenure.
Mixed blessing
A Congressional ethics committee has reprimanded Mr DeLay three times for what it calls objectionable behaviour - including foreign trips financed irregularly.
One such trip was to Britain, including golfing in Scotland, arranged by Jack Abramoff, a political lobbyist and friend of Mr DeLay now facing charges of fraud.
 Bush may feel DeLay's absence |
The current indictment may well put the politician out of the centre of power for some time - which includes the 2006 Congressional election.
Democrats are already ratcheting up their talk of a Republican "culture of corruption" and may seize the opportunity in Texas to try to derail President Bush's second-term agenda, says Mr Slater.
The president may feel Mr DeLay's absence, but he is a bit of a mixed blessing for the White House, says our Washington correspondent.
For although Tom DeLay is hugely powerful in Congress, he has also allied himself with causes that inconvenience the White House. At one stage he said America's judges were running amok - a view not widely shared by US citizens.
But the Bush camp will certainly feel the political heat. After all, the Republican Party leader in the Senate, Bill Frist, is also under investigation for selling stock in his family's hospital company just before the price fell.
