The role of state treasurer in a $ 1.8 billion accounting error will not cost him his job

South Carolina Republican TreasurerCurtis loftisIt seems likely to be kept in charge at least the rest of the year.

The House dominated by Republicans has decided not to assumea resolutionPassed through the Senate to expel Loftis out of charge due to his role in a $ 1.8 billion phantom account presented to state books, but he had almost real money and lack of informing legislators for years.

The Senate sent the resolution to remove Loftis in the chamber on April 21. The President of the House, Murrell Smith, said that there is not enough time to assume -before the session ends on May 8.

“Now we will concentrate on passing the legislation and we will make a decision after the session concludes on the way to go with the treasurer,” Smith said to SmithSouth Carolina Public Radio.

The decision leaves Loftis open to run for a fifth four-year term in 2026. One of his arguments to stay in office was that he was not just to annul the results of the election.

“I am grateful for the decision of today’s house leadership to choose the business of people about political theater. I feel sure that the South Carolinians are grateful that they are the first priority and that political games are not. I am willing to turn my focus to do the work of people,” Loftis wrote in a statement.

The Senate voted 33-8 to eliminate Loftis after an extraordinary audience with 23 Republicans voting yes. It was the culmination of more than two years of research by senators who began when state accounting involuntarily exaggerated money donated to colleges and universities for $ 3.5 billion.

This led to the discovery of an account error that began a decade ago when the state changed from one accounting system to another. If the accountants could not balance the entries of the two book sets, as they moved thousands of accounts with different definitions, they added it to a special account year after year until it grew upup to $ 1.8 billion.

Forensic accounting was needed, millions of dollars were paid in fees, to end the unveil that almost all the money wasNot real cashBut only an accumulation of errors.

Loftis has called the Senate’s research towitches hunt. Said repeatedlyWill not disappear moneyAnd the mistakes were not made in their office, although others have testified differently. The treasurer said that continuing to focus on the errors threatens the state credit rating.

The fact that eight Republican senators voted against the resolution does not mean that they return to Loftis. The leader of most of most of the Senate, Shane Massey, said he simply thought that his fellow senators did not make a strong case enough to take him out of office.

“I would vote for a monkey about Curtis Loftis. I think he has no treasurer business and my hope is that Republicans would be a good candidate to submit against him,” said Masey.

This is the first year of a two -year session, so the resolution to pour Loftis, which is currently on a chamber committee, will remain alive when the legislators return to Columbia in 2026.

The presentation of the post begins next March with the Republican primary for treasurer, governor and other offices throughout the state that occur in June.

This story originally presented to Fortune.com

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