Former Speaker Larry Householder remains in the House as he awaits trial on federal bribery charges related to the 2019 passage of House Bill 6, the sweeping energy bill.
Bob Cupp, who replaced Householder as speaker, said last fall Householder might be expelled, but Cupp said his caucus hasn’t moved on that.
Veteran lawmaker Bill Seitz is the House Majority Floor Leader. He said there are mixed feelings among House Republicans on whether Householder should be removed, but he noted no member of the House has ever been expelled for being indicted on a felony charge.
“There have been at least four members of the Ohio House in my time here who have been indicted on felony charges — two Democrats, two Republicans. They were never expelled. So I think we have to be very mindful of the precedent that we set,” Seitz said
The only Ohio state representative to be expelled was John Slough, a Democrat of Hamilton County, who punched Republican Darius Cadwell of Ashtabula County in January 1857.
