NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Republicans continued to slam disgraced House Speaker Glen Casada on Wednesday, one day after the Williamson County Republican announced plans to draw out his resignation for nearly two months.
Many in his own party are worried Casada is prolonging his departure in an attempt to handpick a successor and continue to exert control over the General Assembly.
"It's petty. There's no basis for him to extend this and it's making himself look worse," Greeneville Republican David Hawk said in an interview on Wednesday.
Hawk continued to call on Casada to resign immediately.
"Speaker Casada waiting two months to resign is ridiculous and unacceptable. People who lose their jobs don't get to set the time frame for when they leave those jobs," Hawk added.
Casada has been embattled in scandal over the last few weeks following multiple NewsChannel 5 Investigates stories which uncovered that the House Speaker had a sexually explicit text conversation with his former Chief of Staff and then lied about it. The FBI has also opened up an inquiry into whether Casada improperly tried to influence votes during the recent legislative session.
Meanwhile, Casada continues to draw a state paycheck for each day he draws out his resignation. Since announce his intentions to resign he has taken home an estimated $2,805.68 taxpayer funded paycheck. He will continue to earn about $247 for each day he continues to hold his position as Speaker. Between May 21st, the day he announced his intent to resign, and August 2nd, the day of his set resignation Casada will have taken home an additional $18,000 in taxpayer dollars.
"This is completely unfair to the taxpayers of Tennessee. To pay him an additional salary for two months in unacceptable," Hawk said.
