U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Jacksonville, is angry about the dumping of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“These are not reasonable people,” Ruther said of the eight insurgent Republicans who forced McCarthy out of his job with the willing aid of happy Democrats.

The move was led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida. It was the first time in history a speaker had been fired by his own party.

“We can’t have this kind of recklessness in government,” Rutherford told Eye on Jacksonville.

The most incredible aspect was that the speaker had offered a 30-day continuing resolution on Sept. 29 that would have cut federal discretionary spending by eight percent and mandated stronger measures by the Biden administration to secure the U.S. southern border with Mexico.

Congress routinely budgets by continuing resolutions these days. It has not approved all 12 major spending bills in regular order, which historically was the method of producing a budget, since 1997.

That offer by McCarthy seemed to cover the things most conservative members wanted.

But Gaetz and 20 other Republicans voted against the Jan. 29 offer, killing it.

The tiny cabal apparently is hoping for a government shutdown, although what it would accomplish is unclear.

Rutherford said a shutdown would be costly and would mean that people can’t get passports or visas. It would delay production of defense materiel.

The puzzled Rutherford said there is no reason for a shutdown.

“We have passed four of 12 spending bills. The House had 12 bills that were moving; they stopped that process,” he said.

On Sept. 30, McCarthy offered a 45-day CR that kept current spending levels and it passed, thanks to Democrats voting with 91 Republicans in favor. That apparently is what triggered Gaetz and his followers.

What enabled the ouster was a rule passed in January that made it easier to remove a speaker. The rule returned it to where it had been for more than a century before former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got it changed to make it more difficult.

Rutherford said he voted for the change because at the time it was viewed as a way to get everyone on board.

He is hoping Rep. Steve Scalise will replace and said he would vote for him – but only if the “motion to vacate” rule that was McCarthy’s undoing is reversed. Otherwise, he said, “I won’t vote for anybody.”