Try as we might, we cannot figure out a way to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. In a congressional vote last Thursday, Representative Nick LaLota was among the entirely Republican “ayes” on House Resolution 276 — the Gulf of America Act — offered up by the execrable Marjorie Taylor Greene. Every Democrat member who cast a vote voted “no.”
It is shameful that the House Republicans even took up the dumb and entirely symbolic bill at all. President Trump had already ordered federal agencies to drop the name “Gulf of Mexico” for the water body bordering three countries and five U.S. states from official records, putting in place “Gulf of America” in a jingoistic nod to the hyper-patriotism of his fan base. Mr. Trump prominently keeps a “Gulf of America” map on an easel behind his Oval Office desk, the better to position it for photo ops. Only one Republican, Don Bacon of Nebraska, voted against the bill; 16 House members did not vote. The act has already been sent over to the Senate, where it is expected to properly flounder and die as the massive waste of time it is.
Voting for H.R. 276 says a lot about Mr. LaLota, none of it good. He either believes in the moronic assumption that renaming the gulf is in the national interest or he does not and only went along with it to maintain his status as a loyal foot soldier for the president. No matter which of these two explanations it might turn out to be, Mr. LaLota — and nearly the entire Republican House — comes off badly. What other nonsense would he be willing to swallow — renaming Long Island Sound “Trump Sound”?
His ingratiating obedience to the president and far-right members of Congress, such as Ms. Taylor Greene, is shameful and must not be forgotten by voters as the 2026 midterm elections draw nearer. Sometimes leadership requires courage and vision, qualities we fear Mr. LaLota has in short supply.