WASHINGTON – House Republicans, moving to protect their powerful majority leader, Tom DeLay, voted Wednesday to change a decade-old party rule so the Texan could keep his post even if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury.

DeLay, a 10-term congressman famous for his aggressive tactics and brash style, has not been indicted, but a Texas prosecutor indicted three of his aides earlier this year for allegedly soliciting illegal campaign contributions and funneling the money to House races in 2002.

Holed up behind closed doors in a Capitol Hill office building, with just a handful dissenting, Republicans made the change after deliberating several hours on the 1993 rule, which forced any leader facing a felony indictment carrying a sentence of two years or more to relinquish his post. Under the revision, a group of senior Republicans would review any felony indictment and could recommend that a leader be allowed to retain his position.

Democrats decried the rule-change as evidence that Republicans, who expanded their House majority on Election Day thanks in large part to DeLay’s planning, had become drunk with power.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, said Republicans had reached “a new low,” and that their action “demeans the work of all ethical, law-abiding public servants.”

A House ethics panel rebuked DeLay, 57, this year for three separate incidents, including trying to coerce a colleague to vote for the Medicare overhaul by offering to endorse his son; hosting a fund-raiser attended by executives interested in an energy measure on which he was a chief negotiator; and asking the Federal Aviation Administration to get involved in a Texas political dispute.

Associated Press

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (center), R-Texas, appears with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, Tuesday after a Republican Party meeting on Capitol Hill.