 On July 7, 1953, the committee battled for 90 minutes over the appointment, with McCarthy refusing to back away from Matthews and claiming that he was a "non-professional" member of the staff that could be hired or fired at his sole discretion, while the Democratic minority cited the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, which placed the hiring and firing of committee staff within the purview of the majority of the committee.A deal was brokered by Vice President Richard M. Nixon, himself a veteran of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, in which Matthews would hand in his resignation in exchange for complete future authority for McCarthy to hire and fire committee staff.This arrangement proved acceptable to Democratic leaders and Matthews resignation was accepted on the evening of July 9, 1953.