Despite efforts at damage control, the Republican leadership of the House remains under fire from its own conservative base for its handling of the sex scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R) of Florida.

Calls are continuing among social conservatives for the resignation of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) of Illinois and other members of the House GOP leadership, who are being faulted for not recognizing that "overfriendly" e-mails Mr. Foley had sent to a male former House page merited further investigation. Foley resigned last Friday after additional electronic messages – sexually explicit in nature – to other teenage male ex-pages came to light.

When asked Tuesday if Speaker Hastert should resign, conservative activist Paul Weyrich said, "Yes, I think it would be better if he did."

"One of the things that people say to me all the time is, in Washington nobody takes responsibility for anything," continued Mr. Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation. "And I think that he, having not delved into this the way he should have, has to take responsibility and therefore has to resign."

Weyrich took part in a conference call Monday to discuss the Foley scandal with other social-conservative leaders, who command the respect of millions of voters around the country. Republican strategists are worried that the Foley scandal – which goes to the heart of the party's proclaimed goal of protecting traditional family values – will depress turnout among conservatives on Election Day and hurt Republican candidates, possibly tilting control of the House or even the Senate to the Democrats.

Until his resignation, Foley was chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, which Hastert critics say should have given the House GOP leadership all the more reason to further investigate Foley's interactions with former pages when the leaders learned of the e-mails earlier this year. Other conservatives who have called on Hastert to resign include David Bossie, head of the group Citizens United, and conservative radio host Michael Reagan. On Tuesday, an editorial in the conservative Washington Times called on Hastert to resign.

Some conservative groups are holding off on calls for Hastert or the entire GOP leadership to resign, pending investigation.

"We think calls for resignation are a little premature right now," says Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs for the Family Research Council. "An investigation is definitely warranted. The question is who knew what when and who was trying to cover up what."

Former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer stuck by Hastert's side in a statement released Monday: "I join my voice to House Speaker Dennis Hastert in calling for a full investigation to determine whether anyone from either party knew about the abusive conduct alleged from former Rep. Foley," said Mr. Bauer, president of the group American Values.

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