By Laura Litvan

     Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert is facing growing pressure from Republican lawmakers who want him to encourage former Majority Leader Tom DeLay to abandon his drive to return to party leadership.

     DeLay has said he expects to be exonerated from money-laundering charges pending in Texas and take back his leadership post after the House reconvenes Jan. 31. A guilty plea Jan. 3 by Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff threatens to draw DeLay and other lawmakers into a federal corruption probe, and some Republicans say Hastert must make clear he supports an election for a new majority leader.

     ``He has to decide inside himself, what's best for the country,'' said Representative Wayne Gilchrest, a Maryland Republican. ``He has to ask himself that question.''

      Hastert, an Illinois Republican who was elected speaker in December 1998 at DeLay's urging, scheduled a late start of the next House session to give DeLay more time to resolve his legal issues, and urged Republicans to wait until February before deciding whether to seek  leadership elections.

    ``The speaker is fully supportive of Tom DeLay getting through the politically motivated legal challenges,'' said Ron Bonjean, a Hastert spokesman. He said Hastert will leave it up to House Republicans to decide if they want a new leader.

     Kevin Madden, a DeLay spokesman, said he had no immediate comment. 
 

                             Petition 

     Leadership elections would be held if 50 House Republicans sign a petition requesting a vote and the motion is approved by a majority of the 230-member Republican caucus. Two House Republicans -- Representatives Charles Bass of New Hampshire and Jeff Flake of Arizona -- will begin circulating a petition later today, said Alissa Southworth, a spokeswoman for Bass.

     Representative John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican, said there is no doubt that at least 50 Republicans today would be willing to sign the petition, and a majority of Republicans will likely cast ballots for a new leader.
     ``Tom still has a lot of supporters, but with this environment, I know there are a lot of members who will want to move forward,'' Shimkus said.

     DeLay was forced to step aside from his No. 2 leadership post after he was indicted in Texas in late September. House Republican caucus rules bar those under indictment from serving in a leadership position.
     Texas Judge Pat Priest hasn't yet set a date for DeLay's trial on a money-laundering charge connected with the alleged funneling of corporate donations to Texas statehouse candidates in 2002. 

                             Gingrich  

     Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Jan. 4 that it's time for Republicans to elect a new leader.
     The Wall Street Journal editorial page today said DeLay and House Republicans should ``move on separately'' because the Abramoff case is creating party ``dysfunction.''

     Ron Talley, a spokesman for the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that has 48 House lawmakers as members, said some lawmakers are concerned that if DeLay were to return, he might have to step aside again -- in an election year -- if he is indicted in the Abramoff corruption investigation.

     ``Nobody in the party needs that going on -- bouncing in and out of leadership,'' Talley said.
     Republican Representative James Walsh of New York, said Hastert can't sit on the fence any longer on leadership elections. Walsh also wants Hastert to back a package of lobbying rule changes. 

                           `The Leader' 

     ``The speaker has to be the leader right now,'' Walsh said. ``He's got to decide whether or not he needs to move forward and call for elections and put a reform package before the House, or say, `I've weighed it all and I think we should not have elections because it would lead to disarray.' He's got to do one or the other.''

     The insistence on Hastert taking action puts the speaker in the awkward position of possibly ending the leadership career of his one-time mentor. Hastert organized DeLay's successful campaign for majority whip after Republicans took control of the House in 1994. DeLay then selected Hastert to be his chief deputy, and the two shared offices and a staff in the Capitol.

    In 1998, Hastert vaulted into the speaker's chair, when Speaker Newt Gingrich retired after Republicans losses in mid- term elections, and speaker-designate Bob Livingston admitted extramarital affairs and resigned. Bill Paxon, a former Republican House lawmaker, said he heard DeLay tell Hastert on the House floor that he should run and by day's end Hastert was elected. 

                            `Bad Cop' 

     Charles Jones, an analyst at the Brookings Institution, a public policy group in Washington, said the genial Hastert and more hard-charging DeLay developed a ``good cop-bad cop'' style that has been effective in heping them to maintain party unity.

     ``This combination has been a good one, and it would continue to be a good one if DeLay hadn't gotten into these problems,'' Jones said.

     Jones said it isn't clear whether Hastert would develop a similar chemistry with a new leader. Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt of Missouri has expressed an interest in the job and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner, an Ohio Republican is a possible candidate.  

                              Guilty 

     DeLay's attorney, Robert Cullen, insists that his client has little to fear in the Justice Department's corruption probe. Abramoff pleaded guilty last week to tax evasion, wire fraud and conspiring to corrupt public officials in cases in Washington and Miami, and said he will cooperate as prosecutors investigate possible corruption.

     DeLay, 58, who once described Abramoff as a close friend, went on a golfing trip to the U.K. with the lobbyist in 2000. In October, investigators questioned the staff of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over a visit DeLay made to her office while on the U.K. trip. DeLay's former deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, has been identified by people close to the investigation as one of the subjects of the probe. DeLay isn't named in the plea agreement Abramoff signed.

     Shimkus said just the implication will be enough to force DeLay out.

     ``He could be on the losing end, even if he's done nothing wrong,'' Shimkus said. ``Perception could overtake reality. That's unfortunate, but that's the body politic we live in.''  

--With reporting by Jonathan Salant in Washington. Editor: O'Connell.