OAN’s James Meyers
12:28 PM – Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry, who is stepping up to replace McCarthy for the time being, did not take long to make his presence known on Capitol Hill.
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On Tuesday, he ordered former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to “immediately” vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday, prompting her to condemn him and express that his decision was a “sharp departure from tradition.”
According to Politico, an email was sent to Pelosi’s office on Tuesday telling her that the “room will be re-keyed” and reassigned for “speaker use.”
Additionally, a spokeswoman for Democrat Representative Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told the New York Post that Hoyer was also asked to vacate his Capitol hideaway office on Wednesday.
The move came just a few hours after Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted in a historic 216-210 vote on Tuesday.
“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,” Pelosi said in a statement, referring to McHenry.
Pelosi has had two separate tenures as Speaker of the House, first from 2007 to 2011, and then from 2019 to 2023.
The former Speaker also said that she is currently in California mourning the death of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and is not able to get her belongings from the office.
House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-N.Y.) staff was reportedly seen cleaning out Pelosi’s office on Tuesday.
“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them,” Pelosi said. “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.”
According to experts, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) is the early favorite to replace McCarthy.
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