Rep. Steny H. Hoyer has become another former Democratic honcho booted from their office in the U.S. Capitol, with the evictions coming on the heels of all House Democrats voting to eject the GOP speaker.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi also had to leave her hideaway office as soon as Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry stepped in as interim speaker.
The office of Mr. Hoyer, a longtime deputy in Mrs. Pelosi’s Democratic leadership team, confirmed Wednesday to The Washington Times that he was asked to vacate his hideaway office. The Maryland congressman still has his office in the Longworth House Office Building.
Capitol Hill insiders viewed the evictions as paybacks for Democrats’ role in removing GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker on Tuesday, when eight Republicans provided the crucial votes to oust him.
An email was sent to Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, from the office of Mr. McHenry, North Carolina Republican, Tuesday evening that asked her to vacate her Capitol office by Wednesday.
“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,” she said in a statement.
She added that she is in California paying tribute to the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein and couldn’t clear out her office.
“This eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” she continued. “As Speaker, I gave former [Republican] Speaker [Dennis] Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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