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Pelosi says interim House speaker McHenry has ordered her to vacate her office in the Capitol building

By Haley Talbot, CNN

Updated 11:05 AM EDT, Wed October 4, 2023

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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday said the newly named interim speaker, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, has ordered her to vacate her office in the Capitol building.

She does maintain her regular office in the Cannon House office building.

An email sent from McHenry’s office to Pelosi’s office just after 6 p.m. Tuesday evening that was viewed by CNN, stated, “Going to reassign h-132 for speaker office use. Please vacate the space tomorrow.”

Pelosi said in a statement that she was not in Washington, DC, to immediately move her belongings.

US Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) speaks to members of the media outside the office of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2023. McCarthy was fighting for his political life ahead of a vote expected Tuesday on whether to remove him as House speaker, forced by far-right critics angered by his work with Democrats. McCarthy sparked fury among the ultra-conservative wing of the party when he passed a bipartisan stopgap funding measure backed by the White House to avert a government shutdown on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Who is Patrick McHenry, the interim House speaker?

“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,” the California Democrat said. “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.”

Feinstein, whose three decades in the Senate made her the longest-serving female US senator in history, died last week at age 90 following months of declining health. She will lie in state at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday ahead of funeral services Thursday.

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Pelosi added in her statement that the “eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” saying: “As Speaker, I gave former Speaker Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”

“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them,” she said. “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.”

CNN has reached out to McHenry for comment.

House Republican leadership also kicked Rep. Steny Hoyer out of his Capitol hideaway office, his office confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.

A Republican aide for the House Administration Committee, which oversees office spaces, told CNN this was not a request made by the committee.

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As speaker pro tempore, McHenry’s official title, the congressman will preside over the vote and selection of the House’s next speaker, with the ability to recess the chamber, adjourn it and recognize speaker nominations.

Kevin McCarthy as speaker was required to submit a confidential list to the clerk of people “in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore in the case of a vacancy,” according to House rules. McHenry, a strong ally of McCarthy, was the top name on that list.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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