Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin chose to focus on Mr. Flynn’s decision to mislead Mr. Pence on the contents of his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak.

“You cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice president and others,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

But Mr. Ryan deflected when asked about calls for congressional inquiries into the episode. “I’m not going to prejudge circumstances surrounding this,” he said. “I think the administration will explain the circumstances that led to this.”

He again praised Mr. Trump, without identifying Mr. Flynn by name. “As soon as this person lost the president’s trust, the president asked for his resignation,” Mr. Ryan said, “and that was the right thing to do.”

In fact, the Justice Department informed the White House a month ago that Mr. Flynn had not been truthful about his conversations with the ambassador.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes of California, a Trump loyalist, released one of the few statements from the Republican side of the aisle, and it offered no criticism:

“Michael Flynn served in the U.S. military for more than three decades. Washington, D.C., can be a rough town for honorable people, and Flynn — who has always been a soldier, not a politician — deserves America’s gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life to strengthening our national security. I thank him for his many years of distinguished service.”

Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, was no more forthcoming. “Mike Flynn served his country with distinction,” he said in a statement. “The president needs a national security adviser whom he can trust, and I defer to him to decide who best fills that role.”