Acting Speaker McHenry’s First Act: Telling Pelosi To Vacate Her Hideaway!

Well this is certainly interesting!

I was not expecting much good to come from Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry given that he seems to be a well-established, card-carrying member of the Uniparty, but his first act of business (other than angrily slamming down that gavel) is certainly interesting!

He’s told Nancy Pelosi to vacate!

Specifically, to vacate her Capitol Hideaway Office:

BREAKING: Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry Orders Pelosi to Vacate Her Capitol Hideaway Office by Wednesday – PELOSI FREAKS! via @gatewaypundit https://t.co/Aw9sba0KnT

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) October 4, 2023

A lot of “vacating” going on recently!

It’s usually “vacationing” but today it’s “vacating”!

I’m still not expecting much from this little “dandy” McHenry, but I’ll support this.

Why didn’t McCarthy do it?

Why doesn’t Pelosi even still have an office?

From Politico:

As one of his first acts as the acting speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry ordered former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday, according to an email sent to her office viewed by POLITICO.

“Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,” wrote a top aide on the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee. The room was being reassigned by the acting speaker “for speaker office use,” the email said.

McHenry, a close McCarthy ally, was first on his list to become acting speaker after the Californian was booted in a Tuesday afternoon vote.

Only a select few House lawmakers get hideaway offices in the Capitol, compared to their commonplace presence in the Senate.

And from MediaIte:

Mere hours after taking over as speaker pro tempore with the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Tuesday, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) ordered former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to vacate her office by Wednesday.

“Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,” an email sent to Pelosi’s office viewed by Politico stated. The email added that the room will be used “for speaker office use.”

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Pelosi is currently using a hideaway office, which only a handful of members receive. Given that she is speaker emerita, McCarthy allowed Pelosi to occupy the space. McHenry, who is a McCarthy ally, is clearly less keen on it.

She slammed the move, calling it “a sharp departure from tradition.”

Pelosi may have some difficulty leaving the office by tomorrow, as Pelosi is in San Francisco attending memorial services for her friend and former Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who died last week.

“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,” said Pelosi, who missed Tuesday’s vote in which McCarthy was ousted.

Here’s more on McHenry:

Meet The Acting Speaker of the House

Meet the Acting Speaker of the House, Patrick McHenry.

McCarthy is out, McHenry is in, at least for now.

Watch his first official act of business as he angrily slams down the gavel:

JUST IN – Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry angrily gavels the House in recess after Kevin McCarthy's removal as speaker pic.twitter.com/Pf1dHLfI4P

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) October 3, 2023

Oh what a big tough man he is!

Looks kind of like a “dandy” to me, but we will see.

McHenry was chosen from a list of five names designed by McCarthy himself, so he’s definitely part of the “Swamp”:

If McCarthy is ousted, an acting Speaker would be appointed — chosen from a list of five names designated by McCarthy and shared with the House clerk, in a process implemented for continuity of government reasons after 9/11.

Follow live: https://t.co/q3uAlaHKyd pic.twitter.com/vQcJlokvCD

— The Hill (@thehill) October 3, 2023

Here’s more from Politico:

Rep. Patrick McHenry is now the acting speaker, the House Clerk announced after Kevin McCarthy was stripped of the gavel in a historic House vote.

The speaker pro tempore is imbued with all the powers of an elected speaker of the House. McCarthy hand-picked McHenry (R-N.C.) for this role when he was elected speaker in January. The pro tempore is kept as a secret, held by the clerk of the House, until a speaker is removed or incapacitated, a process designed after Sept. 11, 2001, to ensure continuity of government.

Rep. Patrick McHenry is now the acting speaker.

McCarthy hand-picked McHenry (R-N.C.) for this role when he was elected speaker. The pro tempore is kept as a secret, held by the clerk of the House, until a speaker is removed or incapacitatedhttps://t.co/REjAeSBh1o

— POLITICO (@politico) October 3, 2023

Gaetz sparred with McHenry earlier in the day:

.@RepMattGaetz Responds To Rep. Patrick McHenry's Claim That Speaker McCarthy's Debt Limit Deal Was A "Conservative" Victory

"It is lovely to hear from the principal architect of Mr. McCarthy's Debt Limit Deal, but here is the reality. The only Republicans in America who believe… pic.twitter.com/MQ3QVtEteQ

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) October 3, 2023

More from the NY Post:

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy has been voted out of his Speaker of the House role in a move prompted by Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Rep. Patrick McHenry is now serving as the temporary speaker because he was at the top of McCarthy’s secret list of successors.

The South Carolina Republican notably helped negotiate the controversial debt limit deal in May that rankled GOP hardliners.

Eight House Republicans ultimately voted to pry the speaker’s gavel away from Kevin McCarthy.

This includes: Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Bob Good (R-Virg.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Ken Buck (R-Col.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mt.), Nancy Mace (R-SC), and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)

They were joined by all Democrats in the 216 to 210 vote.

Notably three Republicans — Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Oh.), Cory Mills (R-Fla.), and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) — initially voted against tabling the motion to vacate the chair, but then voted against it when it was up for a vote.