Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has gotten support from some senior Republicans, even as others stepped up criticism of the general after he declared a state of emergency over the weekend.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Tuesday urged Congress not to cut financial aid to Pakistan as a result of the state of emergency. Blunt said he was confident that the White House and Musharraf are in continuous discussions about the emergency situation in Pakistan.

Musharraf “clearly seeks to retain control of Pakistan during a state of emergency,” Hunter said in a statement Monday. “He apparently sees this control, which requires the use of military and police forces, as the only remedy for an increasingly lethal al Qaeda and Taliban presence.”

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also a presidential candidate, talked to Musharraf on Tuesday and said that the Pakistani president “understands the consequences for his country and for relations with the United States if he does not return Pakistan to the path of democracy.”

Musharraf’s standing on the Hill remains tenuous. One key appropriator, State and Foreign Operations subcommittee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), on Monday called for a cut in U.S. aid for Pakistan, while his counterpart in the House, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), said that Congress and the administration should review the military and economic aid package to Pakistan.

Musharraf suspended Pakistan’s constitution on Saturday for the second time since he took power in a 1999 military coup. He fired Pakistan’s top judge for fear that the supreme court would have determined he is ineligible for another presidential term, and ordered the arrest of hundreds of lawyers, judges and opposition supporters. Musharraf also said elections due by Jan. 15 may be delayed.