After North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, hand-picked by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to serve as speaker pro tempore until a new speaker is elected, began evicting prominent Democrats from their Capitol office spaces, Democrats accused him of engaging in what Axios termed “partisan retribution.”
Evidently, he was, and it does not appear that he is attempting to conceal it.
After former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was removed from her “hideaway office” in the Capitol, McHenry swiftly designated former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to occupy the space.
Rep. Garret Graves told Axios that the area was deemed the office of the former speaker, which Pelosi had been prior to McCarthy’s Tuesday election.
“The office that Pelosi currently occupies is the office of the preceding speaker,” the Louisiana Republican said. “”Now that she and other Democrats have caused there to be an immediately preceding speaker, she has removed herself from that office … that was a decision that Democrats and Speaker Pelosi made in giving that office to McCarthy.”
After Matt Gaetz and seven other Republicans sided with a unanimous Democratic caucus to oust McCarthy as speaker, the California Republican announced he would not run for the position again.
Wednesday is anticipated to be the day of the decision for the next speaker. The early frontrunners for the position are Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan.
Pelosi was not the only Democrat to lose her office space in the Capitol, and she may not have been the first to be evicted, but her eviction notice was the first to be publicized on Tuesday.
Then, on Wednesday morning, the proprietor of Punchbowl News, Jake Sherman, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that former House minority whip Steny Hoyer was also being “kicked out of his Capitol hideaway.”
Sherman reminded readers that Capitol real estate is in limited supply and that the majority party in the House controls the supply.
“[W]hether you think it’s right or wrong, Republicans are going to exact revenge for a long while over the MTV vote,” he wrote. “[Y]es, it was an internal party squabble. [B]ut the GOP thinks Dems shouldn’t have sided w Gaetz.”
“Expect more of this, GOP sources tell us,” he said.
NEWS — HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP has kicked @RepStenyHoyer out of his Capitol hideaway.
Republicans — McCarthy — are taking revenge for Democrats voting with @mattgaetz to boot @SpeakerMcCarthy from the speakership.
Expect more of this, GOP sources tell us.
Me and…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 4, 2023
whether you think it's right or wrong, Republicans are going to exact revenge for a long while over the MTV vote. yes, it was an internal party squabble. but the GOP thinks Dems shouldn't have sided w Gaetz.
remember: the majority controls the Capitol. Rooms, codels, etc. https://t.co/vA1spcmSdl
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 4, 2023
Politico was the first to disclose that McHenry issued an order for Pelosi to vacate her private office space in the Capitol.
According to Fox News, this was one of the first actions he took after becoming speaker pro tempore following McCarthy’s removal.
The missive was sent via email, according to Politico.
“Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,” the email from the House Administration Committee stated. The room was being reassigned, the email stated, “for speaker office use.”
Politico reported that few House members have office sanctuaries within the Capitol.
The staff of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries executed the transfer, according to a representative of Pelosi’s office.
In a statement to Politico, Pelosi criticized her forced resignation as “a sharp departure from tradition,” claiming she had granted former Speaker Dennis Hastert “a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished” when she assumed the position.
Pelosi was in California to witness the funeral of California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.