Nancy Pelosi Gets Kicked Out of Her Office
By Extra-Ordinary Women
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed on Tuesday that GOP Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, the newly appointed interim speaker, has instructed her to vacate her office within the Capitol building. Despite this directive, she continues to maintain her regular office in the Cannon House office building.
An email originating from McHenry’s office and obtained by CNN was sent to Pelosi’s office just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening, stating, “Going to reassign h-132 for speaker office use. Please vacate the space tomorrow.” Pelosi, in response, issued a statement explaining that she was not currently in Washington, D.C., and therefore unable to immediately relocate her belongings.
“While I am away in California to mourn the loss of and pay tribute to my dear friend Dianne Feinstein,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, said, “the new Speaker Pro Tempore has ordered me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol. With all of the important decisions that the new Republican Leadership must address, which we are all eagerly awaiting, one of the first actions taken by the new Speaker Pro Tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol.”
Feinstein, the longest-serving female U.S. senator in history, passed away last week at the age of 90, following months of declining health. She is set to lie in state at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, with funeral services scheduled for Thursday.
Pelosi also expressed her disapproval of this move, characterizing it as a “sharp departure from tradition.” She recalled that, during her tenure as Speaker, she had provided her predecessor, former Speaker Hastert, with a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he desired. Pelosi stated, “Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them. Now that the new Republican Leadership has settled this important matter, let’s hope they get to work on what’s truly important for the American people.”
CNN reached out to McHenry for comment, but there has been no response as of yet. Additionally, House Republican leadership has also expelled Representative Steny Hoyer from his Capitol hideaway office, as confirmed by his office to CNN on Wednesday.
A Republican aide from the House Administration Committee, responsible for overseeing office spaces, clarified that this was not a request made by the committee. In his role as speaker pro tempore, McHenry will preside over the vote and selection of the House’s next speaker, with the authority to recess the chamber, adjourn it, and recognize speaker nominations. Kevin McCarthy, as speaker, was mandated to submit a confidential list to the clerk, specifying the order in which individuals would act as Speaker pro tempore in the event of a vacancy, according to House rules, and McHenry was listed at the top of that list as a staunch ally of McCarthy.
