In the wake of Kevin McCarthy’s removal as Speaker, one of the first tasks for speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) was to inform former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that she must promptly clear out her belongings and vacate her hideaway office.
Additionally, as stated in a report, an email from a House Administration Committee aide indicated that the room was being reassigned for use as the speaker’s office.
Naturally, this decision had Pelosi fuming, who claimed that it deviated significantly from tradition. It is somewhat ironic for her to make such a statement, considering that, removing a House Speaker – a move that Pelosi’s fellow Democrats ultimately supported, even after she allegedly promised McCarthy she would oppose it – is also a departure from tradition.
In an update to this story, we have learned that it was actually McCarthy himself, not McHenry, who initiated the effort to remove Pelosi from her secluded office, a privilege typically reserved for high-ranking members of the House. Furthermore, McCarthy will be the one utilizing that office:
Kevin McCarthy was behind interim Speaker Patrick McHenry’s move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their office spaces, two Republican sources told CNN.
GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters on Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered her to vacate.
“Look the deal is that the office that Pelosi is in right now is the office of the preceding speaker. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats determined that they wanted a new … speaker, and it’s Kevin McCarthy. So, he’s getting the office,” he said.
According to reports, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who has held various leadership positions in the House, both in the majority and minority, was apparently instructed to vacate his hideaway office. CNN’s Jake Tapper and one of the network’s reporters, who initially broke the story about McCarthy’s involvement, expressed their clear disappointment and distress upon learning this news.
It’s hard to say what’s more amusing here – discovering that McCarthy was the mastermind behind it all and is actually moving into that office, or witnessing the media’s disappointed reaction.
Regardless of one’s opinion on McCarthy’s leadership in the House, it’s safe to say that many Republicans would agree that retaliating against Pelosi for allegedly breaking her promise to “have his back” in a situation like what occurred this week is truly a bold and assertive move.
The question is why would McCarthy ever think Pelosi would “have his back?”
