WASHINGTON – A stunning op-ed describing President Donald Trump as erratic and amoral prompted a vitriolic reaction from many congressional Republicans on Thursday, but lawmakers signaled the White House would be largely on its own to deal with the fallout.

Republicans were quick to try to discredit the anonymous writer of the New York Times essay as disloyal and lacking integrity, but many put a clear line in the sand: The op-ed that Trump called “gutless” is the White House’s problem, not theirs.

“This is something that the White House can clearly look at and sort out,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. “I don’t know why we’d be using the resources of the Congress to pursue that.”

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said the op-ed was simply “a disgruntled employee” and “there’s really no reason to do something about it at this point.”

The senator chuckled when USA TODAY said that there was talk of investigations and hearings related to the op-ed on the House side of the Capitol.

“If there’s someone that is writing something negative about their employer and being disloyal to their employer it wouldn’t be the first time, it won’t be the last time, and it’s not to me a major incident,” he added.

On the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue, officials at the White House embraced a two-pronged strategy in which aides described the author as a "coward" while ramping up attacks on the media. Trump projected an image of moving on, but some current and former aides described the West Wing as frantic or, at the very least, fatigued.

While officials depicted the day as “business as usual,” but the extraordinary reaction underscored the toll the latest firestorm is taking. Trump laid out his administration’s successes in a series of seething tweets. First lady Melania Trump weighed in, accusing the writer of “sabotaging” the country.

More than a dozen members of Trump’s administration publicly denied writing the piece.

More:Here are the officials who deny writing the anonymous op-ed

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, meanwhile, issued an unusual statement encouraging reporters to call the New York Times, providing the phone number to do so.

"The media’s wild obsession with the identity of the anonymous coward is recklessly tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans who proudly serve our country and work for President Trump. Stop," Sanders wrote.

"We stand united together and fully support our President Donald J. Trump."

That assessment wasn’t universally held. One former official said the op-ed was hurting morale and testing already thin levels of trust between White House aides. The former official said the op-ed had hit aides even harder than the excerpts of journalist Bob Woodward's new book because the newspaper piece was entirely unexpected.

“I think this op-ed has had a more powerful effect on how the staff interact with each other,” the former aide said. “The staff don’t trust each other.”

Two administration officials said they are aware colleagues are leaking information about each other, but described it as part of the job. They disputed the idea that the staff is in a "frenzy," and that people are just trying to keep their head low and move forward.

"This has become par for the course,” one official said. “Sadly, we've all gotten used to it."

A more common emotion, some said: Fatigue; the long hours and constant pressure are taking a toll on many officials.

The response to this week's bombshells – the Woodward book and then the op-ed – followed a familiar pattern: Sanders spoke with aides behind closed doors to formulate some kind of response.

Trump, meanwhile, remained largely out of sight. He appeared briefly on the South Lawn, ignoring shouted questions as he boarded Marine One en route to Montana, where he is set to hold an evening rally.

Talk of a congressional response to the op-ed began Thursday when Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., responding to a question from USA TODAY, said he was looking into it.

He said it was too early to determine what exactly that response might look like, but he did not rule out hearings.

“We’re looking right now at what’s the appropriate action from a legislative standpoint to review what’s happened,” said Meadows, a Trump ally and the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “It is alarming.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., later appeared to throw cold water on the idea.

Asked if Congress should try to identify the essay’s author, Ryan responded simply: "Not that I know of."

A sarcastic Meadows – who is frequently at odds with Ryan – fired back with a quip hours later at his own press conference after USA TODAY mentioned Ryan’s comments. Meadows chairs the House oversight subcommittee on government operations.

“I guess this is a news breaking day, I have a different opinion than the speaker,” he said to laughter. “That has never, ever happened before.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, who frequently defends the president and is often on Meadows’ side, was blunt when asked if Congress should investigate: “No … I think we’ve got a country to save.”

Gaetz spokesman Devin Murphy said hearings would give "too much weight to a non-story” and also raise "red flags regarding First Amendment freedoms.”