 On December 4 , Lansing announced in a Senate committee hearing that no one in the cabinet had spoken with or seen Wilson in over sixty days . The senators seeking to elevate Marshall requested that a committee be sent to check on Wilson 's condition , hoping to gain evidence to support their cause . Dubbed the " smelling committee " by several newspapers , the group discovered Wilson was in very poor health , but seemed to have recovered enough of his faculties to make decisions . Their report ended the perceived need for the joint resolution . 
