‘They’ve been lying, and nobody calls them on it’: Republican Rep. removed from House floor after Parents’ Bill of Rights outburst

The House of Representatives barred Republican lawmaker Jeremie Dufault from the floor for the rest of the legislative session following an outburst Thursday, but Dufault claims Democrats have been breaking rules all session.

According to Dufault, Democratic lawmakers were attempting to attach “a whole other bill” onto House Bill 1296, the 2025 legislative amendment to the Parents’ Bill of Rights, and when the Republicans’ motion to respond to this move was denied, Dufault reacted, yelling “you changed the rules, and now you break the rules!” out of turn.

“The speaker broke a rule, and that’s been happening all session long. Broke rules, broke state laws, violated the U.S. and state constitutions,” Dufault said on “The John Curley Show,” on KIRO Newsradio. “We were debating the Parents’ Bill of Rights, or the attempt to gut the Parents’ Bill of Rights, and what the Democrats did was they tried to attach a whole other bill to the Parents’ Bill of Rights that would have defunded our public schools if they don’t comply with their woke ideology from OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction). That’s not allowed under house rules.”

Democratic leadership cited that this wasn’t Dufault’s first floor disruption.

“I was not recognized by the speaker, so that was a violation. You’re not allowed to stand up and speak unless you’re recognized by the speaker,” Dufault said. “However, yelling on the House floor is kind of like complaining about there being sand at the beach. I mean, we yell for amendment votes, we yell for points of order. That happens all the time.”

House Bill 1296, which has been highly contested since it was first introduced by lawmakers, revises the way parents are notified about incidents involving their student at school—particularly regarding the rule that requires parents to be notified if their child is involved in an incident at school to 48 hours and allowing students to keep health decisions private.

“The impact on our state is going to be so significant, OSPI can now withhold 20% of your basic education funding if you don’t comply with their woke ideology,” Dufault said. “Forget that our kids can’t read…but God forbid that a parent wants to see their child’s medical records.”

‘They’ve been lying, and nobody calls them on it’

Dufault’s ban from the House floor led to him working on his legislative responsibilities remotely for the remainder of the session. Dufault said that he was still able to vote and speak remotely, just not allowed to do so from the floor.

“In that moment, I said censorship because that’s what she was doing. I wasn’t violating the rules, so she had no right to gavel me. I had been recognized,” Dufault said. “And then I said, ‘you will not silence the people of Washington state because that’s why we’re there speaking,'” Dufault said. “That’s why we’re entitled to speak because whether or not our desire for the vote or desire for the bill passes, we have the right to speak on that floor.”

The bill passed on a 59-39 vote Thursday. Dufault hopes that what happened to him can serve as a reminder to lawmakers that their role is to serve the public.

“If you control the legislature, you control the ability to undo the initiative process, and you control lawmaking in the state. The Democrats have been breaking the rules,” Dufault told Curley. “They’ve been lying, and nobody calls them on it. I decided I was going to call him on it in that moment.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

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