FBI raid fuels more dysfunction at Statehouse
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The FBI raid of former House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger’s home in Clinton County Wednesday fueled more turmoil at the Ohio Statehouse.
House Republicans have been fighting among themselves over who will replace Rosenberger as speaker. The ongoing stalemate has ground state government to a halt.
House lawmakers were scheduled Wednesday and Thursday to play catch-up on a long list of bills which have waited for a vote as the majority Republican caucus struggled to settle on a speaker. Right around the same time as the FBI raid started, Acting Speaker Kirk Schuring cancelled the votes scheduled for the rest of the week. Schuring said the cancellation had nothing to do with the raid. He said it was because he wanted to make sure Rep. Ryan Smith had the necessary votes to become speaker.
“I’ve been around for a long time,” Schuring said. “I think that it’s unprecedented that we have a faction of our caucus who has decided to break with tradition and not support our nominee.”
Democrats in the House said the latest cancellation traced right back to the FBI investigation whether Republicans wanted to admit it or not.
“We wouldn’t be having a speaker’s race right now if Rosenberger had not resigned in disgrace,” said Rep. David Leland, D – Columbus. “The face that the FBI invaded his premises this morning obviously led to the face we didn’t have session the next two days because people didn’t want to answer any questions and there may be other people involved.”
Smith said in a statement on Twitter he had the 50 votes to become speaker. He said he was incredibly frustrated the House votes were cancelled the rest of the week. His main rival for becoming speaker, Rep. Andy Thompson, said Smith didn’t have the votes needed.
“We’re in uncharted territory,” Thompson said. “Whatever speaker’s races there were before, there’s never been one quite like this.”
While the infighting continues, work has largely stopped in the Ohio House.
“We weren’t really moving on a lot of legislation even before this thing erupted,” he said. “It has made matters worse. Speaker Rosenberger bears the responsibility for the position we find ourselves in.”
“We have a lot of work to do in the General Assembly and all of it is being held hostage by the Rosenberger scandal,” Leland said. “Now we have an FBI investigation that’s expanding into Rosenberger’s premises and who knows what they’ve found.”
Leland said he wanted to know more about the FBI investigation and who else may be involved. He said he didn’t want to vote for anyone for speaker who also may be under investigation.
