House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) made a strange choice in one of his very first acts: He fired Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from her hidden office in the Capitol.
“Please clear the room tomorrow, the room will be resealed,” a senior staffer on the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee wrote to Pelosi. according to Politico.
The hideouts are traditionally used by members of the Senate, but a handful of House members also have them. McCarthy had allowed Pelosi to hide because of her status as a former speaker of the House of Representatives. NBC News reported.
Pelosi noted that she extended a similar courtesy to her predecessor, and she called the move “a sharp departure from tradition.”
“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems important to them,” she said in a statement. “Now that the new Republican leadership has resolved this important matter, we hope they will get to work that really matters to the American people.”
Pelosi is in California for the funeral of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a longtime friend, and said she is currently unable to move her belongings. Politico said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) sent his staff to help with the move.
Critics criticized McHenry for the “petty” move against Pelosi: