GOP leadership boots another top Democrat from Capitol office

GOP leadership booted another top Democrat, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), out of his Capitol “hideaway office” Wednesday morning, amid the fallout from an unprecedented vote Tuesday to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Hoyer joins Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was told by Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to vacate her office so he could take it over.

The moves signal the anger among GOP leaders toward Democrats, who voted with a small group of far-right Republicans to remove McCarthy as the House leader.

A Republican aide for the House Administration Committee, which oversees office spaces, said the move to boot Hoyer was not requested by the committee, CNN first reported.

McHenry’s office told Pelosi to leave her hideaway office by Wednesday. Very few senior representatives have “hideaway offices” inside the Capitol Building.

Pelosi is in California for preparation for the memorial services of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who died last week, and was not in Washington to vote on the motion to vacate. She blasted McHenry’s move to evict her.

“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. 

“This eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” she continued. “As Speaker, I gave former Speaker Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”

A group of eight House Republicans joined every present Democrat on Tuesday in a never-before-seen vote to remove McCarthy. Speaking to reporters Tuesday evening, McCarthy said he would not run again for Speaker.

McHenry announced the lower chamber would go on recess, so that Democrats and Republicans could meet separately to discuss a “path forward.” There may be more office rearrangements soon, GOP sources told Punchbowl on Wednesday morning.