Nancy Pelosi is evicted from her private Capitol Hill office by interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry

One of interim US House Speaker Patrick McHenry’s first official acts in the temporary role was to oust Nancy Pelosi from her honorary office at the Capitol, while she was away in California to pay tribute to late Senator Dianne Feinstein. 

Pelosi, who was dubbed ‘Speaker Emerita’ by the Democratic Caucus after the party lost its House majority in the 2022 midterms, had retained a coveted hideaway office in the complex.

McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, was appointed acting speaker by his GOP ally Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted from the speaker’s chair by a rebel faction of the party on Tuesday.

Although McHenry will only lead the House until a replacement is voted in, he acted swiftly to exercise his new powers by giving Pelosi less than 24 hours to vacate her honorary office.

‘Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,’ a top aide on the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee wrote in an email to Pelosi’s office, according to Politico.

A photo from the Capitol showed items from Pelosi’s office being packed up on Tuesday night, while the Democrat was in California to attend Feinstein’s funeral

The email added that the private office had been re-assigned for ‘for speaker office use’ and ordered her to vacate the space by Wednesday.

Pelosi blasted the move as ‘a sharp departure from tradition’ in a statement to Politico, adding that she had given former Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican, ‘a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished’ during her tenure.

‘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,’ she said.

Although private offices in the Capitol are fairly common among senators, they are rare and coveted among House lawmakers.

Pelosi, 83, served as the 52nd House speaker from 2007 to 2011, and again from 2019 to 2023. 

A photo from the Capitol showed items from Pelosi’s office being packed up on Tuesday night, while the Democrat was in California to attend Feinstein’s funeral. 

Feinstein’s body will lie in state in the San Francisco City Hall rotunda on Wednesday, with everyone from elected leaders to city residents expected to say goodbye. 

She died Thursday at age 90 at her Washington, DC, home after a series of illnesses.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., was named the new temporary leader of the House, the speaker pro tempore, and will serve in the office until a new speaker is chosen

Kevin McCarthy says he won’t run for speaker again and ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’

McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown with hardline rebels in his own party, throwing the House and its Republican leadership into chaos.

The California republican’s arch-nemesis, Rep. Matt Gaetz, led a faction of eight GOP rebels who, furious at McCarthy’s compromises to avert a government shutdown, joined with 208 Democrats in voting to remove him.

It means McCarthy holds the ignominious title as the shortest-serving speaker since 1875, and the only one in US history to be voted out of leadership by fellow members.

McCarthy told lawmakers in the evening he would not run again for speaker, putting the gavel up for grabs.

Next steps are highly uncertain with no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority. 

Action is halted in the House until next week, when Republicans will try to elect a new speaker.

‘I may have lost this vote today, but as I walk out of this chamber I feel fortunate to have served,’ McCarthy said at a press conference at the Capitol.

Still, he said, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing.’

Gaetz orchestrated the rare vote on the obscure ‘motion to vacate,’ and pushed ahead swiftly into a dramatic afternoon roll call.

As the House fell silent, Gaetz, a top ally of Donald Trump, rose to offer his motion.

Florida congressman Matt Gaetz led the rebellion against Kevin McCarthy

Leaders tried to turn it back, but the vote was 218-208, with 11 Republicans against tabling the motion, a sign of trouble to come.

The House then opened a floor debate unseen in modern times, and Republicans argued publicly among themselves for more than an hour.

‘It’s a sad day,’ Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma said as debate got underway, urging his colleagues not to plunge the House Republican majority ‘into chaos.’

But Gaetz shot back during the debate, ‘Chaos is Speaker McCarthy.’

As the fiery debate dragged on, many of the complaints against the speaker revolved around his truthfulness and his ability to keep the promises he has made.

Almost alone, Gaetz led his side of the floor debate, criticizing the debt deal McCarthy made with President Joe Biden and the vote to prevent a government shutdown, which conservatives opposed as they demanded steeper spending cuts.

But a long line of McCarthy supporters stood up for him, including Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who said, ‘He has kept his word.’ 

Louisiana GOP Rep. Garret Graves waved his cellphone, saying it was ‘disgusting’ that hardline colleagues were fundraising off the move in text messages seeking donations.

Stillness fell as the presiding officer gaveled the vote closed, 216-210, saying the office of the speaker ‘is hereby declared vacant.’

Moments later, McHenry, a top McCarthy ally, took the gavel and, according to House rules, was named speaker pro tempore, to serve in the office until a new speaker is chosen.

The House then briskly recessed as lawmakers met privately to discuss the path forward.