Florida Republicans censured state GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler on Sunday and stripped him of his authority and six-figure salary until party leaders decide whether to remove him from his post.

The slew of disciplinary actions came during an emergency meeting of the Florida GOP’s executive board in Orlando called by the party’s Vice Chairman Evan Power after the non-profit Florida Center for Government Accountability revealed that Ziegler was under criminal investigation for allegedly raping a woman in early October.

While Ziegler has said that the encounter was consensual and insisted that he will be exonerated in the case, top Florida Republicans — including Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s two U.S. senators — have called on him to step down as chairman, arguing that allegations against him made his continued leadership in the party untenable.

The motion to censure Ziegler, which was approved unanimously on Sunday, stated that the executive board had “lost confidence in Christian Ziegler’s ability to effectively lead the Republican Party of Florida” and that he is not in a position to devote his “full and undivided attention” to guiding the party through the 2024 elections.

Ziegler, who has refused to resign, attended the Sunday executive board meeting to defend himself, urging the executive board to wait until the criminal investigation comes to a close before doling out a punishment, according to two board members who attended the meeting.

The 40-member executive board showed on Sunday that party leaders are ready for Ziegler to go. In addition to censuring him, the executive board also revoked Ziegler’s ability to seek reimbursements for expenses, took away his ability to speak on behalf of and raise money for the Florida Republican Party and reduced his $120,000-per-year salary to just $1, the board members said.

Power will take up Ziegler’s responsibilities until party members make a final decision on Ziegler’s removal. Party leaders are set to hold another meeting next month to decide whether to remove Ziegler as chairman.

Ziegler hasn’t been charged with a crime and police say the investigation is ongoing. Still, Florida Republicans say the allegations are too much of a distraction for the party as it heads into the 2024 election cycle.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Ziegler and his wife, Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, had made plans to have a three-way sexual encounter with a woman with whom they had sex with a year earlier.

When those plans were canceled, Christian Ziegler allegedly showed up at the woman’s apartment where he proceeded to rape her, according to the affidavit.

Both Christian and Bridget Ziegler are prominent figures in Florida Republican circles and have been vocal advocates for traditional values and conservative principles in education.

Bridget Ziegler has also faced intense fallout from the scandal. Sarasota County School Board members formally called last week for her to resign from the board, while Moms for Liberty, the conservative group that Bridget Ziegler co-founded in 2021, has sought to distance itself from her in light of the scandal.