Several Republican lawmakers have been wanting to force a powerful fellow Republican from his leadership position.
Thursday, the chairman of the House Republican Caucus scheduled a caucus meeting for January 12 in which members could vote on whether to remove Representative Jeremy Durham as Majority Whip.
Speaker of the House Beth Harwell joined other Republican leaders in saying the whole issue has been a "distraction."
Representative Jeremy Durham, (R) Franklin, was narrowly elected as House Majority Whip.
But after a series of media reports, some fellow Republicans said they have lost confidence in his ability to lead.
State Representative David Alexander, (R) Winchester, sent a letter requesting a new caucus meeting which would allow members to vote on the issue.
"I have seen enough and heard enough," Alexander said.
Alexander said he has been concerned that Durham was investigated in connection with a prescription fraud case.
And because he wrote a letter of recommendation for a youth pastor convicted of child porn.
By mid-afternoon, the Chair of the Republican Caucus, Representative Glen Casada, (R) Franklin, said he would call a caucus meeting for January 12.
But Casada has said he does not think Durham should be forced out based on a two-year-old letter and case that was never prosecuted.
Alexander said other Republicans have been concerned.
The Majority Whip has been responsible for counting votes, but has also helped with fundraising and re-election campaigns for incumbents.
"It's the raising the money and helping with re-election campaigns next year. Those are two very important points to somebody in our business," Alexander said.
Pushing Durham out will not be easy.
It takes two-thirds of the 73 House Republicans to force him out.
Now all members of the Republican Caucus seem to only agree on one thing about this controversy.
"This is a terrible distraction," Alexander said. "There are a lot of other things that we need to be doing as a General Assembly than talking about this."
Representative Durham has said he will not resign.
He did not return calls requesting comment.
