The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct unanimously voted this afternoon to expand the jurisdiction of its investigation of House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

In a statement, the committee said it is looking into whether Rangel "violated the Code of Official Conduct, or any law, regulation or other standard of conduct applicable to his conduct in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities with respect to all financial disclosure statements and amendments filed in calendar year 2009."

The committee also said that it has issued close to 150 subpoenas, interviewed about 34 witnesses, resulting in 2,100 pages in transcripts, reviewed and analyzed 12,000 pages of documents and held over 30 investigative subcommittee meetings.

Yesterday, House Democrats voted down an effort led by Republicans to force Rangel to step down from his chairmanship until the ethics committee finishes its investigation.