Tsernoglou Removed From Committees, In Hot Water With GOP

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/20/2026) Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) told the media that she believed she was removed from all of her committees for pushing the Speaker too hard on whether to investigate any connection between Jeffrey Epstein and the Interlochen camp near Traverse City.

But House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Chair of House Oversight Committee, Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) said the decision was driven by her conduct in committee, not the resolution.

Tsernoglou, who sat on the Oversight Committee and its subcommittees on Public Health & Food Security, and State & Local Assistance Programs, called on Hall and Republican leadership yesterday to pass her resolution that would create a select committee to look into Jeffrey Epstein's ties to the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

She maintains that her demands were the reason she was removed from the committee as the Speaker has a “record of silencing the voices of strong women," and anyone else who speaks out against him and his policies.

“We can't continue in a government where people's voices are silenced for simply requesting investigations to investigate assault,” Tsernoglou said, adding that she felt she did nothing unprofessional against Republicans or the leadership. She said she simply requested, then corrected herself and said, “I did use the word ‘demand.’”

DeBoyer said that was a convenient excuse, but that it was her “disrespect she showed for the chair of the subcommittee last week” that was the last straw.

“It's been an ongoing problem,” DeBoyer said. “It's been a behavior that's occurred in Oversight."

He added that the decision was made because she wasn't coming to committees with the intent of carrying out the purpose of Oversight, rather she came with the “political gotcha stuff.”

DeBoyer emphasized that it wasn't subcommittee Chair Jason Woolford (R-Howell) who tried to get her off committee. In fact, he said that he handled the situation very professionally.

“I mean, when you have a member sitting on your committee telling the Chair we've heard enough out of you . . . I mean, I don't know if you can get more disrespectful,” DeBoyer said. “I've had multiple disagreements over the last years. I've never spoken ill of her. I've never attacked her character. It's been policy disagreements. If you can't have policy disagreements and not make personal attacks, which she has done, you're not going to be very effective here. It's just the way it is.”

Hall said he “thought long and hard” about removing Tsernoglou from her committees, but decided “this is not a situation where a half measure is warranted.” He said the move was necessary to “protect the institution,” maintain civility and protect the Quorum.

He added that he reviewed the exchange between Tsernoglou and Woolford, saying she challenged him over bills that were not germane to the subcommittee's discussion.

“We've never seen anything like that the whole time I've been here," he said, adding that it was completely out of order for her to tell the chair “I think we've had enough of this review.”

He said members should be able to speak, but said he would not allow members to consistently act out of order, challenge chairs or bring up bills that are not before the committee.

“We’re not going to put up with this,” Hall said. “We’re not going to have Democrat members actively out of order in committee.”

When MIRS asked whether Tsernoglou’s press conference demanding a vote on the Epstein-Interlochen select committee resolution played into the decision, Hall said it did not.

“I get criticized by everybody in all kinds of press conferences every day. I don't care about a press conference. I wasn't even aware of her press conference,” Hall said. “This is solely based on the decision based on the body of work that I saw at the committee.”

He also took the moment to criticize Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton).

“If Puri, who is a failed leader, won't get his caucus in line then I will,” he said. “That's what we're doing. We're disciplining his caucus, we're bringing order to his caucus, and truthfully, we're lifting better leaders like Joe Tate (D-Detroit), people that can help us solve problems rather than layering in all these obstructionists everywhere. I think the people of Michigan want us to solve their problems.”

Tsernoglou agreed that she displays a pattern in committees, but a pattern of “asking questions," which is something she thinks she's here to do.

“So I suppose if asking questions in committee is a pattern of behavior that they would like to discourage, that could be a potential reason. However, that was a lot more removed from the press conference that I literally just held,” she said, adding that she's often not told she can't “ask those questions,” or any questions at length.

When she chaired a committee last term, she said she always gave the representatives the opportunity to ask any questions at length.

“I would answer those questions, and I think that's how democracy works, and that's the type of government that I want to be a part of, one where everyone can participate," she added, saying that either reason to remove her from the committees was inappropriate.

When it comes to DeBoyer's thoughts on her resolution, he said that Attorney General Dana Nessel has “all the statutory authority in the world to conduct an investigation today.” Though he said they hired, in his opinion, the most credible law firm in the nation to conduct the internal investigation. Ultimately, he viewed Tsernoglou's resolution as a game of politics.

He criticized her approach in asking for this investigation, suggesting it would've gone over better if she took a similar route to Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia)'s investigation into the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Pohutsky, he said, came up to him asking if she could look into the facility.

“My response to her was, you're a seated member of the oversight committee, go ahead and do your investigation, you bring back stuff to us that is warranted, and we will act accordingly. That is how communication and cooperation are supposed to act,” DeBoyer said.

He said Tsernoglou's approach of writing a letter and “demanding an investigation,” was again, a “political gotcha,” and an attempt to tie House Republicans to the national narrative on Epstein.