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With the White House accusing Anthony Weiner of being an unwarranted distraction for the president, the fiery liberal may find it difficult to stay on.

Weiner, who was re-elected last November with 61 percent of the vote, has said his behavior was wrong but that he violated no laws.

It is unclear what, if anything, Congress can do to force Weiner to step down. A poll last week showed that most of his constituents think he should remain in his job.

The full House could vote to expel Weiner. But such punishment would be highly unusual unless it found he violated criminal law, not just the chamber's rules.

Last year, the House censured another New York Democrat, Representative Charles Rangel, after its ethics panel convicted him of 11 rule violations, including failure to pay taxes on his beach villa in the Dominican Republic.

Members of the House of Representatives began returning on Monday from a week-long recess, and the chamber's Democrats were to meet on Tuesday, with Weiner likely a chief topic.

A Democratic aide said they could pass a resolution urging Weiner to resign. While it would not be binding, it would show that Weiner faces a solid wall of opposition in his own party.

The Democratic caucus could also strip Weiner of his committee assignments and even tell him that he is no longer welcome at their meetings, the aide said. He now serves on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Traditionally, all it takes to get a leave of absence, as Weiner plans to do, is for a member to formally request one from their chamber's party leader, in this case, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi has requested an ethics investigation to determine what, if any, House rules Weiner may have broken. Such a probe could take months, even up to a year.

A veteran congressional aide familiar with the chamber's rules said he could not recall a case where a member was denied a leave of absence.


Source: Yahoo