Greene's Committee Stripped Of Bills For Taking Israel Trip

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/18/2025) This past week, Rep. Jaime Greene (R-Richmond)’s seat in the chamber sat empty as she traveled to Israel with a delegation of state legislators. Now, her committee sits empty of any bills. They were all removed Thursday.

HB 4085, HB 4086, HB 4087, HB 4388, HB 4429, HB 4510, HB 4511, HB 4512, HB 4513, HB 4536 , HB 4537, HB 4538 and HB 4668 were all discharged Thursday and referred to various other committees, such as the House Committees on Regulatory Reform; Government Operations; Economic Competitiveness; and Insurance.

When asked why the bills were discharged, Majority Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) stated that the Speaker’s office asked him to refer the bills to a different committee, and told reporters to direct further questions to Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township).

“That’s his prerogative, so that’s what we did,” Posthumus said. The Speaker's office did not comment by the time of publication.

On July 24, six bills were discharged from Rep. Pauline Wendzel (R-Watervliet)’s House Energy Committee and instead referred to Rep. Brian BeGole (R-Perry)’s House Government Operations Committee. That was the day the cellphone-in-school ban and the life-without-parole sentencing guidelines for 18-21 year olds bills were put on the board and failed. Wendzel was not on the floor for the vote.

None of the bills put up for a vote last week when Greene was absent failed. The lowest vote total was 60-38 and the highest was 102-1.

“It seems there’s only room for one woman at a time in Matt Hall’s doghouse. I might make some decor upgrades while I’m here. And I would like to thank Rep. Wendzel for keeping the doghouse warm for me while I’ve been representing House Republicans on a bipartisan diplomatic mission to Israel,” Greene said in a text to MIRS before boarding her flight home.

A House Republican source told MIRS that Hall informed the caucus multiple times starting in July that no one should be missing session for trips or vacations while the budget is unfinished, something that was communicated to Greene directly at one point. Other members of the caucus were invited on the trip and declined for that reason, the source said.

Greene said in a press release sent out on Thursday that while in Israel, she met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and planted a tree that symbolizes the partnership between Michigan and Israel. The trip included leaders from across the country.

The only other Michigan lawmaker known to also be on the trip was Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield), who sent MIRS a video of him seeking shelter from incoming missiles.

“It's very normal here. Usually, it's 10 or 15 seconds to find shelter. We had a minute and a half,” he said. “Israel is always under attack. It's so sad that they have to live like this.”