OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
One of the first official moves taken by Acting Speaker of the House Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is one that likely outraged his Democratic opponents.
McHenry, who was designated to take over the gavel by now-former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after being ousted on Tuesday by a handful of GOP rebels who joined with all present Democrats to vacate the seat, told former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to clear out her office and ordered it “re-keyed.”
“Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,” said an email sent to Pelosi’s office that was seen by Politico. The email noted further that the room would be used “for speaker office use.”
Pelosi was using a hideaway office which is a perk to which only a handful of members are privvy. Because she was a former speaker, McCarthy allowed her to continue using the office, but obviously, McHenry — a McCarthy ally — isn’t on board with it.
Pelosi was not present in the House and missed the vote to oust McCarthy. She is currently in California for the funeral of long-time Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who passed away at the age of 90 last week.
“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. Sadly, because I am in California to mourn the loss of and pay tribute to my dear friend Dianne Feinstein, I am unable to retrieve my belongings at this time,” she said, calling the move “a sharp departure from tradition.” She also noted that she provided former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) “a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished” during her tenure.
Patrick “The Hammer” McHenry is a boss
— Tom Jeans (@thomasjeans) October 4, 2023
This day just keeps getting better 🤣 https://t.co/NKH3LrN6N8
— TONY™️ (@TONYxTWO) October 4, 2023
“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them,” she said, according to CNN. “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.”
Politico noted that “House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ staff helped Pelosi’s office make the move, according to a spokesperson for the former speaker.”
The final vote to vacate the Speaker’s chair on Tuesday was 216 to 210. McCarthy has said since his ouster that he would not seek the position again.
McCarthy acknowledged the difficulty of his situation before the vote.
When asked if it was likely that five Republicans would vote with the Democrats, McCarthy replied, “Probably so,” meaning that he would resign if that happened. He claimed that he does not anticipate support from Democrats.
“I don’t regret standing up for choosing governing over grievance. It is my responsibility. It is my job. I do not regret negotiating. Our government is designed to find compromise,” he told reporters.
Jeffries made it clear on social media that Democrats won’t save McCarthy.
“House Democrats will continue to put people over politics. We are ready to find bipartisan common ground. Our extreme colleagues have shown no willingness to do the same. They must find a way to end the House Republican Civil War,” Jeffries posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Democrats are going to continue to push for people over politics and to fight to make life better for everyday Americans. From the very beginning, that has been our objective. And it will continue to be our sole focus delivering for the American people. We encourage our Republican colleagues who claim to be more traditional to break from the extremists, end the chaos, end the dysfunction, end the extremism,” Jeffries said.
