Tennessee Republicans are poised to pass new rules that would allow House Speaker Cameron Sexton to ban a spectator from the House gallery for the entirety of the legislative session, an escalation of public protest guardrails the GOP supermajority has implemented in the last two years.

The new two-strike rule allows the speaker to order anyone in the gallery removed for disorderly conduct. If a person is removed once, they will be blocked from returning to the gallery for that day and the next legislative day.

Once a person is deemed disorderly and removed a second time, though, they can be prohibited from the gallery “for any period up to the remainder” of the legislative session.

Sexton could also immediately ban someone for “especially egregious conduct.”

Republicans also gave initial passage Tuesday in the House Rules Committee to a new three-strikes provision that would block a disorderly member from the House chamber, as well.

How Sexton, R-Crossville, might define disorderly or “especially egregious” conduct is fully at his discretion, a point House Democrats have repeatedly criticized over what they argued was inequitable application of the rules. Democrats have argued that by holding supermajority the GOP has total power to define what is and is not considered out of order.

More: Rep. Justin Jones slams House vote to silence him as ‘charade’ as Dems walk out in protest

The new rules package come amid several sessions of heated public pushback, typically sharply critical of House Republicans, that first began as gun control protests in the wake of the 2023 Covenant School shooting.

Since then, House Republican leadership has implemented increasingly stringent speaking rules for members, instituted certain signage bans for members of the public and blocked off one-half of the public House gallery for ticketed entrance.

Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, was one of the three Democrats on Tuesday’s House committee that voted against the rules package.

“If the representative can’t be heard, if they can’t express themselves, and then the people are being put out, who are you listening to?” Hakeem asked Rep. Johnny Garret, R-Goodlettsville, who presented the GOP rules package.

Garrett, an attorney, likened the House chamber to a courtroom. Public access does not mean there aren’t rules to follow, he argued.

“Courts in the state of Tennessee are wide open, you and I can walk in and observe,” Garrett said. “But we do not have the constitutional right to scream bloody murder inside a courtroom. That judge would slap us with contempt and throw us in jail.”

Under the new three-strikes rule for House members, a representative who is “called to order” for breaking House rules, which the rules package also refers to as “unruly behavior,” will at first face a limit on their speaking time. For the second transgression, the member would be silenced for two legislative days.

A third transgression could trigger total removal from the House chamber for three legislative days.

Garrett said the House would set up a remote voting chamber in a committee room to allow the member to cast votes.

The remote voting rule appears targeted at Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, who frequently clashes with Sexton and other House Republicans on the chamber floor.

Jones demurred Tuesday when asked if he felt the remote voting punishment was aimed at him but described the rules package overall as “authoritarianism without guardrails.”

“It’s going to impact the right of the public to be here in this building, going to impact their rights and their ability to show up in the capital,” Jones said.

In other rule changes, House members’ bill allowance will drop over the next two years. Members previously could file 15 bills each but would be held to 12 bills in 2025. Next year, the bill allowance would drop to 10 per member. Committee chairs and other leadership would have a higher allowance.

Republicans voted down all rules changes proposed by Democrats, including one brought by Jones to curtail conflicts of interest between lawmakers married to lobbyists.

Republicans also blocked a ban on guns in committee rooms. Firearms are currently banned from the state Capitol but allowed in the adjoining office building.

The new rules package must be adopted by the full House before any changes go into effect, but Republicans easily have the votes to pass the package.

Tennessee Basketball’s injury report on Tuesday night once again listed only sophomore forward JP Estrella, who had season-ending foot surgery in November, as out for Wednesday’s game against Georgia. 

But the left shoulder injury for sophomore forward Cade Phillips isn’t going away. Phillips continues to wear a brace on the shoulder in practice and games, playing through pain while hesitating to the left arm he injured in the second half against Arkansas on January 4.

“Cade is tough as nails, that’s a good thing,” Tennessee assistant coach Lucas Campbell said before practice on Tuesday. “In the games he’s told me adrenaline takes over and he starts to just go.”

No. 6 Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC) and No. 23 Georgia (14-2, 2-1) on Wednesday are scheduled for an 8 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: SEC Network) at Food City Center. The Bulldogs listed all players as available on Tuesday’s injury report.

Phillips scored four points in 10 minutes off the bench in the 74-70 win at Texas on Saturday night, going 2-for-3 from the field with four rebounds. He played just three minutes in the loss at Florida last Tuesday.

“He missed a bunny there (at Texas),” Campbell said. “I don’t know if that had to do with his shoulder or not, but he did a great job. He had a nice put-back dunk. 

“He’s getting his chippiness back. We need that. He’s probably the most physical big we have as far as hitting people.”

Cade Phillips suffered dislocated shoulder injury vs. Arkansas

Head coach Rick Barnes said Phillips “battled” through the injury at Texas.

“Really proud of Cade Phillips tonight,” Barnes said after the win at Texas. “Really proud. He went in the game and he battled. And his shoulder is not what it needs to be.”

The ESPN2 broadcast of the Tennessee-Florida game described the injury as a dislocated shoulder. He has worn a brace on his left shoulder since suffering the injury.

Barnes said after the Arkansas game that Phillips could have played more in the second half after getting hurt, but the score didn’t make it necessary.

Cade Phillips averaging 15.9 minutes per game off the bench

Phillips is averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game this season.

He was injured while chasing a loose ball in the second half against Arkansas, going to the Tennessee locker room briefly before returning to the floor. He finished the Arkansas game 11 minutes played.

The three minutes he played at Florida was a season low.

“He wasn’t the same in terms of like the one lob he went up for,” Barnes said last week, “he didn’t even raise his left arm. He went up and tried to get it one-handed, which that’s one reason he didn’t play more.”

“Cade’s tough,” Barnes added. “He’s never going to complain. He’s just … I could tell he wasn’t normally what he is.”

The 114th General Assembly gaveled in at the Tennessee state Capitol Tuesday for a legislative session expected to largely focus on education issues as Gov. Bill Lee seeks to push through a private school voucher proposal.

With few election shake-ups last fall, lawmakers returned to a legislature with little change in the status quo. Republicans still hold a strong supermajority, and prexisting leadership will preside over both chambers.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday reelected Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, as Speaker of the Senate. Senate Democrats all abstained from the vote.

“Each General Assembly I’ve gaveled in seems to be better than the last,” McNally said.

In the House, Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, also easily won reelection to lead the chamber. Democrats nominated House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, and unanimously voted for her. 

“The people of District 52 will not vote for an authoritarian!” Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, yelled from his seat before casting his vote for Camper. 

As Republican members called their votes for Sexton, a spectator yelled out “boo!” and “gross!” from the west gallery – prompting a chuckle from the sitting speaker, who stood to one side as the election was held. 

“I greatly appreciate all that voted for me today, and for those of you who didn’t, I do know some of you wanted to, and I understand that,” Sexton said. “Over the last five years, we’ve all learned a lot. My goal is to be more efficient, empower Tennesseans over the government and uphold our constitutional duty of public oversight.” 

Notably, some desks were rearranged on the House floor since last year. Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, who had previously been seated near each other and have frequently clashed with their Republican colleagues, were both moved. Pearson is now seated next to Rep. Vincent Dixie, D-Nashville, in a sea of Republican desks across the chamber from the Democratic caucus. Jones has been moved to the front, near the speaker’s dais.

The House Select Committee on Rules convened later Tuesday afternoon to discuss proposed changes to the rules. Ahead of the meeting, proposed rules changes included a limit on the number of bills each member can propose, and a “three-strikes” rule proposing to permanently ban members of the public found to be disruptive from the gallery.

The initial weeks of a legislative session are often slow-moving as committees get settled and bills began to make their way through the legislative process. The Senate is expected to name committee assignments on Thursday. Many eyes will be on the appointment of the Senate Education Committee chair after former Sen. Jon Lundberg’s ouster last year in the GOP primary. The committee will prove pivotal in the voucher issue.

Advocates on both side of the issue mingled in the Capitol halls on Tuesday.

There are rumblings that Lee intends to call a special session in late January on his voucher bill.

The effort failed last year amid legislative gridlock. A special session call would allow lawmakers to narrow their focus on the issue, which could be tied to disaster relief funding for areas of East Tennessee.