Abandonment of Speakership Stuns Capitol

House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston (R-La.), battered by personal and political fallout after admitting he had committed adultery, jolted the Capitol on Saturday by announcing he would not accept the leadership job and would resign from Congress.

With two of the government’s top three positions--the presidency and the speakership--in turmoil, Republicans moved quickly to stabilize their ranks. They immediately rallied behind Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a little-known lieutenant of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), to be the next speaker. DeLay has been a prime mover in efforts to oust President Clinton.

Other likely contenders dropped out Saturday, apparently clearing the way for Hastert to be anointed speaker when House Republicans next meet, probably in early January.

The coalescence around Hastert represents a spectacular transformation of an obscure legislative strategist into the apparent choice for a job that is second in line for the presidency. It is also a sign of how much many GOP House members long for a return to low-key normalcy in the midst of the maelstrom consuming Washington.

Livingston contributed to the tumult Saturday when, during the momentous House impeachment debate, he first called for Clinton to resign, then delivered his own bombshell.

Speaking two weeks before he would have been installed as speaker when the next Congress convenes, he said: “I cannot do that job or be the kind of leader that I would like to be under current circumstances. So I must set the example that I hope President Clinton will follow.”

Some lawmakers said that GOP support for Livingston had begun to erode after he surprised his colleagues Thursday night with his disclosure that he had engaged in extramarital affairs.

But Livingston told his colleagues Saturday that he had decided to give up the speakership to spare his wife and family further anguish. The Louisianan’s scandal-induced fall marks the latest casualty in a generation-long trend of escalating ethical attacks and counterattacks on public figures. Livingston’s case provoked another round of soul-searching among lawmakers about whether the nation’s political leadership was self-destructing.

“We are now rapidly descending into a politics where life imitates farce, fratricide dominates our public debate and America is held hostage to tactics of smear and fear,” Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) told the House.

Livingston Exit ‘Broke My Heart’

Responding to Livingston’s resignation at the White House, Clinton said: “It broke my heart. The politics of personal destruction needs to end.”

The abrupt shake-up in the House GOP leadership became part of a dizzying, crisis-ridden week in Washington: Bombs rained down on Baghdad, Livingston admitted an adulterous past after learning that Hustler magazine was investigating his private life, and the House adopted two articles of impeachment against Clinton.

“This is all so overwhelming,” said Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.). “There have been so many bombshells. We have bombshells in Baghdad. We have bombshells in the House. You can’t turn your back for a minute.”

Livingston was tabbed the party’s speaker nominee in mid-November amid high hopes that his pragmatic approach would provide a welcome contrast to the continual controversy that marked Georgian Newt Gingrich’s speakership.

Gingrich had been hailed as the GOP’s master strategist just four years ago when the party won control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. But he quickly became a highly partisan political figure and his own ethical lapses--stemming from an improper commingling of political and charitable funds--led the House to reprimand and fine him.

After the GOP lost five House seats this November, Gingrich announced he would not seek another term as speaker and would resign his House seat.

Livingston emerged as the consensus choice to replace him and he was unanimously designated to take the speaker’s chair. His fall from the pinnacle of congressional power to the ignominy of leaving Capitol Hill began with his revelation that he had been involved in extramarital affairs during his 33-year marriage to his wife, Bonnie.

At a closed-door party meeting Thursday night, his colleagues reacted to his candor with a standing ovation. And in comments to reporters afterward, several stressed that he remained the party’s pick for speaker. But some members were troubled and, given that the next Congress will consist of 223 Republicans, 211 Democrats and one independent who usually votes with the Democrats, Livingston could not afford to lose support.

Early Friday morning, Rep. Greg Ganske (R-Iowa) went to visit Livingston to express his concerns about the impact of the revelations. He found Livingston sitting there thinking about the same thing. “I thought it would be used by the other side,” said Ganske.

By the end of the day, news reports quoted two Republicans saying they were rethinking whether they would vote for Livingston as speaker in January. The Capitol was swirling with rumors about additional disclosures to come and conservative backbenchers were plotting what they would do if Livingston did not have enough votes to be elected speaker, according to Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). “There were more than a dozen members who had serious problems,” Wamp said.

In an interview with The Times, Livingston said that during the night before Saturday’s impeachment vote, he resolved to step aside. He could not vote to impeach Clinton and call for his resignation, he said, “without doing what I did.”

“He felt it was in the best interest of the institution, the best interest of his family,” said Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.), a Livingston confidant.

When Livingston arrived at the Capitol on Saturday, he informed hardly anyone of his decision--not fellow leaders, not many staff members. So when he stepped up to the podium on the House floor, most lawmakers were expecting a straightforward, two-minute speech advocating impeachment.

That was the case--until he called for Clinton’s resignation. Those words ignited a vigorous protest from Democrats, led by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), one of Clinton’s most vociferous defenders.

“No!” she shouted, pounding on a table in fury.

Quickly, other Democrats joined in.

“You resign! You resign!” they screamed in unison, many pointing angrily at Livingston, momentarily silenced as he stared down at the text of his remarks. As most of the shouting died down, he calmly went on.

“To my colleagues, my friends and, most especially my wife and family, I have hurt you all deeply, and I beg your forgiveness.” He then delivered the news that he would not stand for election as speaker and would leave the House in about six months. He provided no explanation for his decision to remain in the chamber until summer and his staff could provide no clarification later in the day.

Republicans were shellshocked but praised Livingston’s leadership and suggested that it should be emulated at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

But Democrats rallied around Clinton with even greater determination, saying that the president’s resignation would amount to capitulation to the forces of “sexual McCarthyism.”

Both sides began speculating about the corrosive effect of a political culture in which sexual purity may become a prerequisite for public office, where the cycle of scandal and revenge cannot be broken, where the pryings of Hustler magazine can drive the speaker of the House from office.

Some lawmakers worried that the furors that had swept away two speakers and imperiled a president would deter others from even seeking public office. Initially, though, half a dozen GOP House members began canvassing their colleagues about whether they should run for speaker.

Seeking to Avoid Prolonged Struggle

Hastert emerged as the obvious favorite as it became clear that the top priority for many Republicans was to avoid a prolonged and divisive power struggle.

Reps. Steve Largent of Oklahoma and James M. Talent of Missouri quickly proclaimed they were backing Hastert. Rep. Bill Archer of Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, declined to run.

The last holdout was Rep. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach, who made a run at the post last month but withdrew in the face of certain defeat by Livingston. That scenario repeated itself Saturday with Cox clearly interested in the post but thinking better of it as party leaders announced that Hastert had at least 112 supporters--enough to win the leadership election, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 4.

Alissa J. Rubin, Art Pine, Melissa Healy, Lisa Getter, Robert L. Jackson and Peter Hong contributed to this story.

* ‘WHAT I HAD TO DO’: Rep. Livingston says he couldn’t act against Clinton without taking the first step. A54