The Washington Post reports that Democratic Rep. David Wu has resigned amid a creepy sex scandal that was fortuitously overshadowed by the debt ceiling debate:

Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) announced Tuesday that he will resign from Congress, four days after a report that a young woman called his office complaining of an “unwanted sexual encounter.”

“I cannot care for my family the way I wish while serving in Congress and fighting these very serious allegations,” Wu said in a statement. “The wellbeing of my children must come before anything else. With great sadness, I therefore intend to resign effective upon the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis. This is the right decision for my family, the institution of the House, and my colleagues.”

Wu’s downfall has been in the works since last February, when his staff abruptly quit because of his increasingly erratic behavior. The congressman hung on to his seat for awhile, but this latest debacle unleashed a strong wave of pressure from top Democrats for him to resign.

And it couldn’t have worked out any better for Democrats, who are probably breathing a sigh of relief now that the unstable congressmen has decided to step down. Wu will remain in office until after the debt ceiling negotiations, but there also isn’t a lot of concern his seat will flip Republican. He’s in a fairly safe Democratic district, and the Democrats already have several strong candidates vying for his seat. Resigning will also give Wu an opportunity to get the help he clearly needs.