Republican leaders called Tuesday for the resignation of New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, putting pressure on leaders of his party who have stopped short of demanding that the embattled lawmaker step down over a sexting scandal.Mr. Weiner apologized Monday for trading lewd photos and text messages online after his marriage and then lying about it when he was exposed by a conservative website. But by asserting that he wouldn’t resign, he failed to put an end to the uproar that has overshadowed his party’s political agenda for nearly two weeks.
On Tuesday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called for Mr. Weiner to resign and challenged House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to explain whether they “believe members of Congress are held to a different set of standards.”
In a similar situation earlier this year, Republican Rep. Chris Lee of upstate New York resigned just hours after it was revealed he had sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman he met on Craigslist.
Ms. Pelosi hasn’t called for Mr. Weiner to step down, but on Tuesday formally asked the ethics committee to investigate. Among the questions are whether Mr. Weiner made improper use of government phone lines or other resources.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) on Tuesday said Mr. Weiner should resign. “The last thing we need is to be immersed in discussion about Congressman Weiner and his Twitter activities,” Mr. Cantor said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had tough words Tuesday for the 46-year-old lawmaker, though he didn’t directly call on Mr. Weiner to resign. “I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can’t,” Mr. Reid said.
Mr. Weiner’s mentor, Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), has remained supportive of the congressman. A person close to the senator said Mr. Weiner called his former boss moments before the Monday news conference to tell him he planned to take responsibility for what he’d done, but the details came as a surprise to the senator when he watched on television.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was the first New York Democrat in Congress in 2008 to call on then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign over his use of prostitutes. She said Tuesday she knows both Mr. Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, and whether he stays in office “is a matter for himself, his constituents and the ethics committee.”
Democrats are aware that party leaders looked ineffective when they tried and failed to force another stubborn New York politician, Rep. Charles Rangel, to resign amid an ethics scandal last year.
With the House in recess this week, Democratic leaders could wait until early next week to see if any more damaging details emerge. Already, one woman, a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas, told the gossip website Radaronline.com that she believed Mr. Weiner used a congressional phone for a raunchy conversation, because when she called the number back she got an automatic message saying it was an outgoing phone line for Congress. The woman didn’t respond to requests for comment.
On Monday, Mr. Weiner denied having ever used government equipment to conduct the conversations.
On the streets of Sheepshead Bay, a residential neighborhood on Brooklyn’s southern edge, Mr. Weiner’s Ninth District constituents were divided over whether he should step down. For some, his behavior and the lies he told to cover it up weren’t entirely dismaying, just a messy part of being human.
“Of course he shouldn’t have done it, that’s easy to say,” said David Reiss. “I think he will weather the storm,” said Mr. Reiss, 63, who has lived in neighborhood for more than four decades. “But about him being mayor—that I doubt.”
Voters who disliked Mr. Weiner before the scandal felt confirmed in their views. Norma Pollack, 66, said she soured on Mr. Weiner when she felt he didn’t do enough to save express bus lines from being cut in the area. For her, lying about lewd photos on Twitter was the final straw. “He’s like all the other politicians,” she said. “He should have come clean to begin with.”
