Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been ordered to vacate her Capitol hideaway office “immediately.” Patrick McHenry, acting as interim US House Speaker, asked Pelosi to vacate her honorary office at the Capitol as early as Wednesday. The order came while Pelosi was in California, where she was honoring the late Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Pelosi, dubbed ‘Speaker Emerita’ by the Democratic Caucus even after the Democratic Party lost its House majority in the 2022 midterms, had managed to keep a prized hidden office within the Capitol complex. The move came shortly after McHenry was appointed the House Speaker pro tempore, following the removal of Kevin McCarthy in a historical vote Tuesday.
No Place for Pelosi
According to Politico, a top aide on the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee sent an email to Pelosi’s office requesting that she vacate the area by Wednesday. The e-mail mentioned that the “room will be re-keyed” and be repurposed for “speaker use.”
While McHenry will serve as the House leader until a new replacement is elected, he wasted no time in exercising his newfound authority. He provided Pelosi with less than 24 hours to vacate her honorary office.
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In a statement to Politico, Pelosi strongly criticized the action, characterizing it as “a sharp departure from tradition.”
“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 Temper was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol,” Pelosi said in a statement, referring to McHenry.
“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.
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Although private offices in the Capitol are fairly common among senators, they are rare and coveted among House lawmakers.
Pelosi served two distinct terms as the Speaker of the House: initially from 2007 to 2011 and then again from 2019 to 2022.
Tactical Move
Pelosi is in California honoring the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein’s body will lie in state at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, and Pelosi is expected to deliver a speech at a memorial service outside City Hall on Thursday.
The office of Pelosi was attended to by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ staff, who helped in cleaning out the office on Tuesday. This involved removing a television and packing items into bags, which were subsequently taken away.
“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them,” Pelosi added. “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.”
Pelosi was not present for the House vote to remove McCarthy from the position of House speaker. The vote was primarily driven by members within McCarthy’s own party.
In a vote of 216-210, eight Republicans including Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana joined 208 Democrats to remove McCarthy from power.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) is considered an early favorite to succeed McCarthy.
