Amid ongoing controversy in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Speaker Glen Casada has resigned from his job selling pharmaceuticals for Merck & Co.

Holt Whitt, Casada's director of legislation, confirmed the speaker's departure from the drug company on Friday.

"He didn't feel like he could do both jobs, so he resigned," Whitt said.

It's unclear when Casada left the company, though Whitt said he resigned this month.

Casada was employed as an animal pharmaceutical salesman for the large drug company. According to his statements of financial interest, he has been employed by Merck since 2012.

In a Nov. 28 interview, The Tennessean asked Casada if he would quit his job upon becoming speaker. He said that he planned to stay for at least another year.

"I will probably keep it for a little bit," Casada said at the time. "I'm 59. I'll be 59-and-a-half in March, and if I could stick around for another year, it would really pad my retirement. So I'd like to stick around a little bit."

Pam Eisele, a spokesperson for Merck, said she could confirm that Casada "is no longer employed by Merck Animal Health," but did not elaborate on his departure or when it became effective.

As House speaker, Casada, R-Franklin, makes roughly $73,000 annually from the state.

Casada is currently facing calls from both parties for his resignation as he attempts to weather a scandal involving racist and misogynist text messages.

His former chief of staff Cade Cothren resigned May 6 after admitting to using cocaine in a legislative office building and reports of text messages showing he solicited sexual acts from an intern and lobbyist.

Brooklyn Dance contributed to this report.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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