'I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign,’ Obama said in an interview with NBC. | AP Photo Obama suggests Weiner resign

President Barack Obama has joined the ever-growing chorus of Democrats seeking the resignation of New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, putting even more pressure on the embattled lawmaker to quit the House in the midst of a sex scandal that seems to produce a new, embarrassing chapter with each passing day.

“I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign,’’ Obama said during an interview scheduled to air Tuesday morning on NBC’s “Today” show.


“And when you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can’t serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs, and their mortgages, and paying the bills, then you should probably step back,” Obama said.

Obama’s comments are the latest — and most serious — blow to Weiner’s political career, which has imploded after the Democrat was caught sending lewd photos and online communication to at least a half-dozen women he met online.

In addition to Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York; and more than a dozen other House Democrats have called for him to step down.

Up until now, Weiner has refused to obey those demands, and on Saturday, he left for an undisclosed rehab to have his mental state evaluated. Weiner officially requested a two-week absence from the House on Monday evening.

Weiner’s defiance has only emboldened Republican critics who think Pelosi should go further in moving to oust him from the House or at least start making formal moves to revoke certain powers and privileges as a member of the House.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters Monday that he hopes the Democratic leadership would “begin to move … toward things like perhaps stripping him of his” spot on the Energy and Commerce Committee — the only panel on which he serves.

Privately, top Democrats say the overwhelming view of most Democrats is that Weiner should resign immediately. Barring that, there is likely to be enough support within the Democratic Caucus to strip him of his seat on the prestigious Energy and Commerce Committee, although when such a vote could take place is still unclear.

Pelosi, speaking to reporters Monday evening, said that she knows she cannot force him from Congress but hopes he the growing chorus of prominent Democrats calling for his resignation helps move him toward leaving.

She also said Weiner’s issue deserves greater consequence than stripping him of his committee spot.

“This is beyond committee assignments,” Pelosi said, adding that Democrats are “certainly not going to welcome him here with committee assignments.”

With the House back in session after a weeklong recess, the Weiner scandal remains front and center for Democrats, who seem to be at a loss over what to do next. The Ethics Committee staff has begun a preliminary investigation into the matter, and Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was expected to return from an overseas trip early Tuesday. Weiner has said he won’t make any decision on resignation without talking to his wife, whom he claims has backed his decision to remain in the House.

Obama’s comments in the Tuesday interview were much stronger than previous statements by his own aides. And it’s not the first time Obama has waded into a House ethics controversy — last year, he said it was time for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to go, but Rangel is still in the House after receiving a public censure.

With a Democratic Caucus meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning, no members have moved to formally place the Weiner case on the agenda. Democratic insiders say they aren’t sure enough of their colleagues will even show up to obtain the required quorum for such a vote, but they acknowledge the scandal will inevitably come up at the session. During the last Democratic Caucus meeting, when Weiner was still publicly lying about his online relationships, he stood up and spoke about the situation. Weiner’s comments elicited laughs and jokes from his colleagues.

There is precedent for stripping Weiner of his Energy and Commerce post, even without any formal judgments regarding House ethics rules and federal laws. In June 2006, after former Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) was indicted on a slew of bribery and corruption charges, Pelosi successfully moved to force him off the Ways and Means Committee despite heavy opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus. Jefferson is now serving a 13-year prison sentence following his conviction on those charges.

“I would hope that something comprehensive can get done,” Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said Monday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball With Chris Matthews.”

As of press time, well over a dozen House Democrats had called for Weiner’s resignation, with the latest being Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.).

Yet there remains some support for Weiner, at least among Democrats who don’t want leadership dictating whether a lawmaker can stay in Congress.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, a fellow New York Democrat who has been involved in a federal corruption probe, said the decision about Weiner’s political future is his alone and not for party leaders to decide.

“I think that’s up to him and his constituents. I don’t think any member can go and tell anyone what they should do,” Meeks said. “Leadership had to do what leadership thought it had to do.”

Meeks, who represents parts of Queens along with Weiner, told his longtime colleague that he is “praying for him.”

Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson of Connecticut and Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra of California have been noticeably silent on the scandal. Both men have backed Pelosi’s call for an Ethics Committee inquiry on Weiner’s actions, but neither has supported Pelosi’s demand that Weiner give up the seat he has held since 1998. Larson is among a group of Democrats who make up the “Pennsylvania Corner” on the House floor, and several of those lawmakers have been close to Weiner.

With the Ethics Committee staff having already begun a “preliminary inquiry” into the Weiner case, Weiner himself was a no-show Monday. A Weiner spokeswoman said Saturday that Weiner is in rehab seeking evaluation for a mental condition.

Since 1906, such leaves have been routinely granted to members without objection. In one 1967 incident, a member reserved the right to object to leave requests but did not end up seeking a vote. At the time, then-Minority Leader Gerald Ford (R-Mich.) said he had never witnessed an objection to a leave request in his 19 years in the House.

The House rule on missing votes dates back to the time when members were paid on a daily basis and could have their per diem docked for absences. The rules state that members must be present for votes unless an absence has been approved or they are “necessarily prevented” from attending. No lawmaker has been docked any pay for missing votes since 1914, according to the House Historian’s Office.

So as a practical matter, there is no penalty for Weiner in missing votes. The Ethics Committee could conceivably recommend that the House fine a member, but that would likely require a lengthy investigative and judicial process.

Jonathan Allen contributed to this report.