Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was behind the decision to kick Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer out of their Capitol hideaway offices, one of which the ousted speaker intends to move into, according to a report.
Just hours after Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) was named House speaker pro tempore following the historic vote to strip McCarthy (R-Calif.) of his speakership Tuesday, an email went out to Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Hoyer (D-Md.) notifying them to vacate their unofficial office spaces near the House floor.
A GOP aide told The Post Wednesday that Republicans were “hearing the same things” about the office removals reported by CNN.
“I think it’s part of a larger fissure between Dems and Republicans in the House,” the aide said.
“A lot of mainstream Republicans thought that Democrats would come to McCarthy’s aid (maybe a few voting present) when push came to shove and not to actively help Gaetz,” the staffer added. “Any chance McCarthy can dig at Pelosi and Dem leadership he’ll take.”
The office Pelosi occupied is traditionally given to the preceding House speaker. AP
A spokeswoman for Hoyer told The Post that the former House majority leader had also been asked to vacate his Capitol hideaway office.
EPA
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) told reporters Wednesday that Pelosi’s former office will go to McCarthy.
“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.
Pelosi, who served as speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011 and then again from 2019 to 2023, slammed the move.
“This eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” the 83-year-old speaker emerita said in a statement. “As Speaker, I gave former Speaker [Dennis] Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”
McCarthy was reportedly behind McHenry’s orders to Pelosi and Hoyer.ZUMAPRESS.com
Pelosi, who missed the vote that led to McCarthy’s removal because she was in California mourning the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, added that “office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) staffers helped clean out Pelosi’s office late Tuesday, according to Politico.
The full House is expected to vote on a new speaker next week.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2023/10/04/ousted-mccarthy-behind-house-office-eviction-notices-given-to-pelosi-and-hoyer-report/