Following the historic ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House speaker, one of his top lieutenants, House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC), is now serving as interim speaker ahead of a vote on a permanent replacement.
One of McHenry's first acts in this temporary role was to evict former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from a "hideaway" office she uses at the Capitol, reported Politico on Tuesday evening.
"'Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,' wrote a top aide on the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee. The room was being reassigned by the acting speaker 'for speaker office use,' the email said," reported Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz. "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ staff helped Pelosi’s office make the move, according to a spokesperson for the former speaker ... The former speaker blasted the eviction in a statement as 'a sharp departure from tradition,' adding that she had given former Speaker Dennis Hastert 'a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished' during her tenure."
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Pelosi was not in D.C. to oversee the packing up of her office in person, because she is currently attending memorial services for her friend, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who passed away at the end of last week at the age of 90. Staff for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) reportedly helped Pelosi's staff with the move.
The removal of McCarthy came after far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who had for months been escalating a feud with the then-Speaker and claimed he had breached agreements made with the House Freedom Caucus to secure the votes for his Speakership, filed a "motion to vacate the chair," which due to rules McCarthy himself was forced to approve, can now be filed by a single member.
In his farewell address to reporters, McCarthy laid into Gaetz, calling the move "personal" and suggesting it was revenge for an ongoing ethics investigation into Gaetz's sexual and financial conduct.
