Gingrich Should Cool It, GOP Minority Leader Says : Whip Urged to Be More Responsible

Rep. Newt Gingrich, who initiated the investigation that led to Speaker Jim Wright’s downfall, has to be “much more responsible” as House Republican whip than he was as a junior member, GOP leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois said today.

“Everyone’s free to do their own thing in a sense,” Michel said on “CBS This Morning.” He pointed out that Gingrich (R-Ga.) “was catapulted into the leadership” when then-Rep. Dick Cheney (R-Wyo.) was picked as defense secretary.

“He’s got to be much more responsible than he was as a junior member of Congress,” Michel said. “He recognizes that, I think. I’ve already detected somewhat of a change in his deportment on the floor of the House. It’s a learning process for him.”

Wright proclaimed himself “liberated” today after his announcement that he will resign from Congress.

“I feel liberated,” he told reporters in one of several upbeat news interviews he granted after weeks of being unavailable. “I will get to do a lot of things I enjoy in life and have been postponing--to read, reflect and be with friends in a leisurely setting.”

But there were clear signs Wright’s leaving will not end the partisan bitterness that focused on his ethics case.

House members said Wright’s resignation announcement had relieved tension, but some also said it was being replaced by anger--much of it aimed at Gingrich.

Gingrich ducked out of the House chamber without a word to reporters after Wright’s resignation Wednesday.

‘Mindless Cannibalism’

Gingrich sat next to Michel during Wright’s hourlong speech. He sat impassively through most of it with his hands folded in his lap.

When Democrats stood up and broke into applause after Wright called for an end to “this period of mindless cannibalism” in the House, Gingrich conferred briefly with Michel, then grinned and joined other Republicans in rising.

Gingrich’s refusal to comment on Wright’s resignation was in sharp contrast to the high-profile ethics campaign he has waged for nearly two years against Wright and other House Democrats.

Democrats reacted to his barrage of charges early this year by filing their own complaint against Gingrich with the House Ethics Committee. The complaint, which is still pending, alleges that Gingrich violated House rules with a partnership he created in 1984 to promote his book, “Window of Opportunity.”

Wright’s son today called Gingrich “another Joe McCarthy” and said the Speaker was the victim of the “reactionary right.”

“I think the Republicans are going to realize that he’s just a loose cannon on the deck, another Joe McCarthy,” Wright, 44, said on NBC’s “Today” show from Santa Fe, N.M. “As soon as he becomes an embarrassment to (the Republicans), they’ll back away from him and let him sink on his own.”

There was other evidence today that the recent eye-for-an-eye atmosphere in the House was far from gone.

Republicans circulated a private briefing paper advising their colleagues on how to best use Wright’s problems. In the favorite argument of Gingrich, the paper contended that the Democrats have problems because of their 35-year tenure in control of the House.