Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer walk from the House floor to the speaker’s office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on December 19, 2019, to discuss the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Sarah Silbiger | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — After the House removed Kevin McCarthy as speaker, Republican leaders abruptly evicted two prominent Democratic lawmakers from their longtime secret offices in the Capitol without explanation.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer were both told they would be “reassigned” a smaller but coveted second office in the Capitol.
A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the new speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-Pa.), were asked what spurred the evictions, but did not immediately respond. There wasn’t.
But Rep. Garrett Graves (R-Louisiana), a close ally of Mr. McCarthy, said Ms. Pelosi’s office would be transferred to Mr. McCarthy.
“The office that Speaker Pelosi is in now is the former speaker’s office. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats decided they wanted a new former speaker, and that’s Kevin McCarthy. So he’s going to take that position. ,” Graves told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. .
New York Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday that his caucus remains “motivated to find common ground on an enlightened path” to help Republicans break through their ultra-hardline positions. He accused them of being “passive.”
Pelosi, who holds the district seat from California, noted that the eviction notice came while she was traveling to San Francisco for the funeral of her longtime friend, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died on Friday.
The harsh break with tradition came after all Democrats in the House on Tuesday supported eight Republicans who defected in their bid to oust Mr. McCarthy.
“One of the first actions of the new Speaker, Pro Tempore, was to order me to immediately leave my office in the Capitol,” Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday night.
“Sadly, I am unable to retrieve my belongings at this time as I am in California to mourn and mourn the loss of my dear friend Dianne Feinstein.”
After she was first elected speaker, Pelosi gave her predecessor, former Republican Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, a spacious office in the Capitol that he could use as long as he wanted. He pointed out.
“Office space isn’t important to me, but it seems to be important to them,” she said Tuesday.
Secret offices on Capitol Hill, seen as a perk, are provided by the party in power to leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Despite losing their retreat space in the Capitol, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer will both maintain large congressional offices in the Longworth House office building.
Republican lawmakers are furious with Democrats who sided with conservative hardliners and their leader, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), in a motion to remove McCarthy as speaker.
Mr. Gaetz, a longtime enemy of Mr. McCarthy, is considered by many rank-and-file Republicans to be more interested in attracting public attention than legislation.
After being fired, McCarthy said Tuesday night that when he was elected speaker in January, Pelosi promised her “always will support” Republican caucus members if they moved to resign.
But when the ax finally fell, Pelosi wasn’t in Washington to help McCarthy.
“Today was a political decision by Democrats,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol.
Graves also blamed Democrats for McCarthy’s ouster. “I don’t know what they’re complaining about,” he said of the office evictions. “They created this situation.”
Mr. Jeffries disagreed. He said the reason for the race for speakership is that House Republicans “have given extremists the power to paralyze the system.”