Alabama Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) and his members are pushing back after a recording from a closed-door House Republican Caucus meeting was strategically leaked and published widely this week.

Numerous lawmakers who were present during the meeting describe the circulated clip as a selectively edited hit job designed to embarrass the speaker and inflame internal tensions ahead of the 2026 election cycle.

The Alabama House Republican Caucus meets behind closed doors, a longstanding practice across state legislative caucuses nationwide. These meetings are not subject to Alabama’s open meetings laws and are traditionally treated as confidential deliberations where members can speak candidly, air disagreements, and work through internal politics.

Secretly recorded audio from the Thursday caucus meeting was published by Alpolitics.com and 1819 News in recent days.

All controversy surrounding the clip stems from a 57-second segment pulled from what lawmakers say was roughly an hour-long discussion over whether State Rep. Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) can continue leading the House Republican Caucus as Majority Leader while running for Alabama Republican Party Chairman.

On Wednesday, Stadthagen announced he is officially stepping down as majority leader in order to pursue a bid for chairman. 

“That recording is so much bigger than just an attack on me—it is a complete and total betrayal of all 76 members of the House Republican Caucus,” Speaker Ledbetter said in a statement to Yellowhammer News. 

“Whether it is passing school choice, securing our elections, fighting for the unborn, or defending conservative values, the men and women of the House have been a driving force behind advancing ALGOP’s agenda. Over the last four sessions, our incumbent House members have shaped the Alabama Legislature into one of the most conservative and successful legislative bodies in the country. Ensuring their reelection is good for the House, good for the State Republican Party, and good for the people of Alabama. Standing up for these members is my responsibility, and I’m proud to do it.”

The leaked audio clip includes Ledbetter saying he “could give a shit about the Republican Party” — but accounts from inside the room say the remark came from a point commonly made by Ledbetter, regarding his responsibility to the House Republican Caucus as an institution, and protecting the members of the caucus headed into 2026.

Under Ledbetter’s leadership, the House Republican Caucus has grown its supermajority from 72 seats in 2022 to 76 today.

These four additional seats have significantly improved the House’s ability to dictate the flow of legislation and enact conservative agenda items including major reforms around school choice, public safety, tax cuts, election security, illegal immigration enforcement, and more.

After the caucus meeting and subsequent leak, Stadthagen took a “leave of absence” as majority leader, which he permanently resigned from this morning. 

State Rep. Chip Brown (R-Hollinger’s Island) was named interim Majority Leader through the March 7 party meeting. A permanent Majority Leader is expected to be elected by the caucus before lawmakers leave Montgomery this week.  

In the wake of the leak, House Republicans who were present in the closed-door meeting provided statements to Yellowhammer News about their perspective. 

The lawmakers, granted anonymity to speak candidly, agreed that the underlying dispute shouldn’t be confused with what they view as the larger breach that followed.

“He was sticking up for the members. Everyone in that room knew what the speaker meant. His comments aren’t the problem….. the person recording our meeting and sending it to the media is.”

Another Republican lawmaker shared the widely-held belief that the two roles are mutually exclusive, running the state party — decidedly not participating in party primaries — and leading the caucus, inherently doing what’s best for House Republicans. 

“I just don’t see how someone can lead both the caucus and the state party without it being detrimental to both entities. Both are important jobs, but they are inherently different and not intended to be done by the same person, and that was the issue many members had. But no matter which side of that issue members are on, we should all agree that whoever recorded our meeting isn’t fit to serve among us. That’s totally unacceptable, and whoever did it is a disgrace.”

A third member, granted anonymity for the same reasons said described an ongoing situation within the caucus that finally reached a fever pitch. 

“His comment was not about the party—it was about the majority leader choosing to pursue his own personal ambition instead of fighting for the members he swore an oath to serve. That is not leadership; it is selfishness, and it shows he isn’t fit to lead the caucus or the Alabama Republican Party.”

Members say the identity of the source of the leaked recording remains a matter of internal caucus business.

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.