The ousted House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was behind the eviction of his Democratic predecessors Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) from their unofficial offices near the House floor, according to a report by CNN.
The email informing Pelosi and Hoyer to leave their offices was sent just hours after the House voted to strip McCarthy of his speakership on Tuesday and appoint Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) as the speaker pro tempore.
A GOP aide told the New York Post that the office removals were part of McCarthy’s retaliation against the Democrats, who did not support him when he faced a challenge from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
“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 aide said.
“Any chance McCarthy can dig at Pelosi and Dem leadership he’ll take.”
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) confirmed that McCarthy planned to move into Pelosi’s former office, which is traditionally reserved for the previous speaker.
“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 told reporters on Wednesday.
{{/usCountry}}“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 told reporters on Wednesday.
{{/usCountry}}Pelosi, who served as the speaker twice from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023, denounced the eviction as a break from tradition.
“This eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” she said in a statement.
“As Speaker, I gave former Speaker [Dennis] Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”
Pelosi, who was absent from the vote that removed McCarthy because she was in California mourning the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said that she did not care about the office space, but implied that it mattered to the Republicans.
“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them,” she said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) staff helped Pelosi pack up her office on Tuesday night, Politico reported.
The House is expected to elect a new speaker next week.