“An unacceptable distraction,” said Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, a leading Republican, described it as “a ridiculous distraction.”

Gee, Mr. Weiner is caught sexting women and taking self-adoring pictures, and suddenly 435 representatives can no longer focus long enough to deal with the national debt ceiling or Medicare. Who knew they were so lacking in mental agility?

Even President Obama is distracted. His press secretary, Jay Carney, said so on Monday. The president himself spoke up, too, pretty much pointing Mr. Weiner toward the door. “I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign,” Mr. Obama said in an interview broadcast Tuesday morning on NBC’s “Today” show.

Before that interview, Mr. Carney told reporters that “the president feels, we feel in the White House, that this is a distraction, obviously.”