Hastert to meet press

[Ron Burgundy]

Reuters - The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, will meet reporters at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) as he faces calls for his resignation over the handling of a sex scandal involving a fellow Republican Congressman who resigned.

The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, will meet reporters at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) as he faces calls for his resignation over the handling of a sex scandal involving a fellow Republican Congressman who resigned.

Hastert's spokesman announced the lawmaker will meet reporters at his district office in suburban Chicago.

Hastert has scrambled to keep his job amid criticism of how he handled the case of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s unwanted advances on teenage boys. Foley resigned last week after disclosure of his lurid electronic messages.

With polls beginning to show the public is taking notice, the political firestorm has rocked the Congress and buoyed Democratic hopes they can take back control of the House as well as the Senate in congressional elections on November 7.