Recently, Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez said on national TV that Democrats are responsible for the current chaotic situation in the House of Representatives. The reason: because none of them voted to confirm Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, as House speaker.

This astonishing claim defies comprehension: It is absolutely the responsibility of the majority party in the House to elect the speaker; or, if they cannot do so out of their own number, to approach the minority to seek a compromise solution. McCarthy and his allies did nothing of the sort. Instead, he broke numerous promises, e.g., not to seek an impeachment of President Biden without a House vote.

I am sure Rep. Gimenez is an intelligent man, and he knows what he said is rubbish. After all, when the Democrats had a very slim majority in the House, not a single Republican voted to elect Nancy Pelosi, nor should they have done so. Yet she governed effectively for her entire term. The problem in the Republican Party today is Trumpism, which has no respect for the truth nor for governing effectively.

John M. Connolly

Haydenville