Speaker Pro Tem Kicks Pelosi, Hoyer Out of ‘Hideaway’ Offices

WASHINGTON — The anticipated retribution for the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., began quickly Tuesday night just hours after Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., took over the chamber as speaker pro tempore.

First, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was ordered to “immediately” vacate her Capitol hideaway office.

Then, Wednesday morning, former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was told the same thing.

Both were told their former ancillary offices in the Capitol were going to be “re-keyed” and reassigned for “speaker use.”

Pelosi immediately fired back with a written statement that said, “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.”

“Hideaway” offices are one of the perks of Capitol Hill, doled out to select members of the House and Senate based on seniority and other factors. 

These unmarked offices are typically near the House or Senate chambers and used by the members to take a break and relax on a hectic day or to hold private meetings.

Pelosi called McHenry’s order a “sharp departure from tradition,” noting that when former Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., left office, she gave him “a significantly larger” suite of offices to use “for as long as he wished.”

On Tuesday, McCarthy became the first House speaker ever to be removed from the office by a floor vote of his colleagues. 

The move came after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., filed a motion to vacate the chair, and he, along with every Democrat in the chamber and a block of disgruntled Republicans, voted to show McCarthy the door.

In the end, the final vote was 216-210.

The irony of Pelosi being on the receiving end of GOP retribution is she wasn’t in the chamber to cast a vote either way yesterday. 

Instead, she was in California after the death of her close friend, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whose funeral will be held Thursday. 

“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,” Pelosi said in her statement Tuesday night. 

It has been reported her staff has begun moving her belongings from the space.

Hoyer has not publicly commented on McHenry’s order.

As for Pelosi, she closed her statement by saying, “Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them. 

“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,” she said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue