“It’s not a time that anybody is feeling good about,” Mr. Aubry added. “However, I think the body is determined to uphold our traditions and our responsibilities as elected officials.”

Several members said Mr. Silver was being presented with the Democratic conference’s opinion that he could no longer serve as speaker, but exact details of how the caucus would move forward were still being discussed. One conceivable possibility, members said, was that Mr. Silver could return to his position as speaker if he were acquitted of the federal charges.

Mr. Silver, who represents the Lower East Side of Manhattan, was arrested on Thursday on charges that he exploited his position as one of the most powerful politicians in the state to obtain millions of dollars in payoffs. He insisted on Monday that he he would be exonerated.

Earlier in the day, pressure had been building on Mr. Silver on a number of fronts. More than 20 Assembly Democrats called for Mr. Silver to step down or appeared poised to do so, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, also a Democrat, said it would be a “good thing” if a replacement for Mr. Silver were to take charge in the Assembly.

Mr. Cuomo did not explicitly call for Mr. Silver to leave his post, but raised concerns about how his arrest could affect state government.

“The government has to work, and the distraction of what’s going on with the speaker, it hurts the functioning of government,” Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference in Manhattan.

In a setback to Mr. Silver, Mr. Cuomo criticized a plan that the speaker had formulated on Sunday in which he would retain his title, but temporarily relinquish some important duties to five other members, including the responsibility to negotiate the state budget, which must be finished by April 1.