After Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder's arrest this week, his future as speaker may be cloudy - though he hasn't said clearly if he will resign.
Governor Mike DeWine has called for Householder to quit, and says he'll consider taking action if his fellow Republicans in the House do not. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.
The criminal complaint against Householder includes what DeWine calls a horrible set of events, and DeWine says it’s clear that Householder can’t function as speaker. DeWine says he’s talking to House members and that it’s their obligation to deal with this.
“But if it’s necessary for us to call the legislature into session, give them a specific topic which would be the speakership, I certainly would not hesitate to do that at all.”
It would take a two-thirds majority to remove Householder – 52 Republicans and Democrats voted for him as Speaker, and some have said he should step down. But DeWine says he does not support a repeal of the nuclear power plant bailout that federal prosecutors say Householder got passed with a $61 million corruption scheme.