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Albert's meek stand did not satisfy most Democratic Representatives. Indignant that the honor of Congress had been impugned, worried by waves of quizzical and critical mail pouring in from voters back home, they implored Majority Leader Thomas "Tip" O'Neill of Massachusetts to get Hays to resign his chairmanships. O'Neill is the No. 2 man to Albert and the odds-on choice to become the new Speaker next January now that Albert has decided to retire. An implacable enemy of Hays, O'Neill summoned the Congressman to his private office. There Hays tried to brazen it out: "I have nothing to hide. She [Ray] was an employee who did her work."
Hays offered a deal: he would temporarily leave the chairmanship of the House Administration Committee, but only if he would be succeeded by his close ally, Pennsylvania's John Dent. He would definitely not surrender the job to the committee's most senior member besides himself, New Jersey's Frank Thompson, who has long refused to be bullied by Hays. But O'Neill turned down the deal. Said he: "No way can I buy that. The House won't buy it. You have got to step aside."
He went on to warn Hays that unless he quit both major chairmanships —of the Administration and Democratic Congressional Campaign committees —he would be bounced out of them by an open vote of the party caucus. Hays' final words: "I'll think about it."
Next day, Hays made a statement at a press conference where no questions were allowed. He said that he would temporarily leave the campaign funding committee because he did not want "to have my name on a check which might be used as a campaign issue against any Democratic candidate." But he would delay until this week a decision on his greater power base, the House Administration Committee. If Hays refused to quit, the House Democratic caucus was prepared to vote on the matter on June 16.
At last week's end a weary but determined Tip O'Neill said: "This guy has got to be removed. He either goes on his own or he goes by a vote. I'm trying to protect this House." Indeed, as the FBI investigation went on and Liz Ray kept on talking behind closed doors, nobody knew how many more Congressmen—and their women—might be drawn into the swirl.