After Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada (R) lost a no confidence vote within the caucus, Gov. Bill Lee (R) said Monday that he will call a special session to elect a new speaker if Casada doesn’t resign.
According to the Associated Press, Republicans voted against the speaker 45 to 24.
“I’m disappointed in the results,” Casada said in a statement. “However, I will work the next few months to regain the confidence of my colleagues so we can continue to build on the historic conservative accomplishments of this legislative session.”
It is not entirely clear that members can remove a speaker from his role before his term is up. They can expel lawmakers from the legislative body, but the Tennessee constitution does not provide any guidance on the speaker issue.
Casada has been trying to claw his way out of the mountain of scandal that already buried his chief of staff, including racist and sexist texts, allegations of trying to get an activist tossed in jail, and the chief of staff’s drug use. Here’s TPM’s deep dive on the scandals.
