Rep. Zoe Lofgren suggested Wednesday that she is not jumping for joy at the latest task handed to her by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi .

“It is not a fun assignment,” said Lofgren, referring to the Speaker’s decision to name her fellow California Democrat to chair the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, informally known as the ethics committee.

Leading the ethics committee is never a popular assignment because lawmakers generally dread having to judge their own.

Lofgren will have the particularly challenging task of deciding how to proceed in the ongoing investigation of powerful Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel . Last year the committee launched a probe of the New York Democrat’s fundraising and personal finances.

Having failed to complete the investigation last session, the ethics committee will have to decide whether to continue the probe or create a new subcommittee to study the case.

Citing committee confidentiality rules, Lofgren refused to discuss the Rangel case or how the committee will proceed.

Lofgren said she had already spoken with ranking Republican Jo Bonner of Alabama. “I want to work in a bipartisan way,” she said. “I am confident we will have a productive effort.”

Bonner also would not say whether a new subcommittee should be constituted to continue the Rangel probe.

“I don’t know. I met the chairwoman for the first time yesterday,” he said. “I should have the conversation with her before I have it with the public.”

Aside from the Rangel case, the ethics committee has seven pending cases that were not resolved last session, according to the summary of activities for the 110th Congress on the committee’s Web site. The names of the seven lawmakers or staff involved have not been publicly disclosed.

Lofgren previously served on the ethics panel. First elected to the House in 1994, she represents a solidly Democratic district that includes San Jose.

Most recently she tackled another hot-button topic as the chairwoman of the Judiciary panel’s subcommittee on immigration. A former immigration lawyer, Lofgren supported a path to legalization for immigrants. She also opposed building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, which was supported by Republicans.

In 2007, Lofgren voted with her party 99 percent of the time on votes that pit a majority of Democrats against a majority of Republicans, according to CQ vote studies.