House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) suggested on Sunday that there might not be an ethics investigation into Rep. Anthony Weiner and his inappropriate electronic communications with women.

“A judicial process through the Ethics Committee is going to take time. I really don't know that we have that time,” Hoyer said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “And I would hope that Mr. Weiner would use this opportunity to reflect upon whether or not he can effectively proceed. I don't see how he can, and I hope he would make that judgment.”

The New York Democrat announced plans last weekend to seek treatment for his problems. It could be a last-ditch effort to save his seat or a way to make an eventual more graceful exit. Close associates of Weiner’s have indicated that he has grown more distraught over his situation in recent days, despite his admonitions that he would not consider stepping down.

“It's a problem for the institution. Yeah, this is getting beyond ridiculous. I feel so sorry for Huma and her family most all we've got to get this behind us because it's a distraction,” said Ryan. “And so, yes, he should resign. I don't take pleasure in saying that because we've got important work to do, and this is just a ridiculous distraction.”

Ryan also said that it would be faster for Weiner to resign than for the House to launch an investigation into whether he misused House resources to conduct his Twitter correspondences.

“Well, there is a process. I don’t know—it would take a little while for this process to go through,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “There’s censuring. You would have to go through a process. You would have to go through—the ethics committee, I think, would have to process.”

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