COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made the case for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to be expelled from office Thursday.

Householder is accused of running a $61 million bribery scheme to pass and defend House Bill 6, the taxpayer-funded bailout of two nuclear power plants in Ohio, while maneuvering to get himself elected speaker.

The Ohio House Rules and Reference Committee heard sponsor testimony from House Republicans and Democrats who introduced resolutions to expel Householder from the Ohio House of Representatives.

Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said a message needs to be sent that selling legislation is unacceptable.

"This is a sad day in a long series of sad days for Ohio when you have a cloud like this hanging over the Ohio House," said Stewart.

Stewart and Mark Fraizer, R-Newark, represented House Republicans, and Jeffrey Crossman, D-Parma, and Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown, represented Democrats and detailed why they think Householder should be removed from the House.

"If bribery, racketeering and money laundering are not disorderly conduct, then frankly nothing is," Stewart said.

Householder and four others were indicted on federal racketeering charges last July after prosecutors said Householder ran the largest bribery scheme in state history.​

Three defendants have pleaded guilty. Householder has maintained his innocence but was unanimously removed as speaker last summer.

The bar to remove a member from the legislature is “disorderly conduct,” a vague term not specifically defined in the Ohio Constitution.

"At the end of the day, this is about right and wrong and Ohioans know what happened was wrong and that he's not fit to serve as an Ohio House member,” Crossman said. “And we are in a position to be able to take action and we should.”

Ohio House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, disagreed. He said because Householder was reelected last November and has not been convicted of a felony, he should stay. Also, he does not think the legislature should get to determine what disorderly conduct means.

"It strikes me as being the very same argument that Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler and Chuck Schumer in their proceedings against Donald Trump,” Seitz said to Stewart. “So it surprises me as conservative Republicans you would be making that argument.”

Stewart responded, "These charges were not brought by Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, representative. These were brought by President Donald Trump’s hand-picked U.S. Attorney who considered these charges and brought these charges in Ohio."

The focus now shifts to Tuesday in what could be the final step in the committee process.

Householder has been invited to give testimony which he said he will provide. However, once Tuesday comes and goes, lawmakers said the due process is complete and a full House vote should be called immediately.

House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima, who also chairs Rules and Reference, has not said if or when he will call a vote.