Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was removed from her longtime office in Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning after Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted as House speaker.
Pelosi was ordered by acting House Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to vacate her hideaway office immediately.
“Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,” an aide for the Republican-controlled House Administration Committee told Pelosi. The room would be used “for speaker office use.”
Pelosi had previously promised McCarthy that she would not back Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., if he filed a motion to vacate the speakership in exchange for the passing of a 45-day spending bill — a promise Pelosi immediately broke.
McHenry took the gavel after Tuesday’s vote to remove McCarthy and ordered Pelosi out almost certainly as retaliation for her betrayal.
According to House rules, McHenry was picked from a list McCarthy was required to keep and will serve essentially as the acting speaker — known as speaker pro tempore — until the chamber figures out who will be the next leader.
For McHenry, who stands out with his signature bow ties, the interim job marks his most public position to date during his 10 terms in the House.
Pelosi said that the eviction “a sharp departure from tradition” and complained that she’d given former Speaker Dennis Hastert “a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”
But she added: “Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them. 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.”
McHenry, who will turn 48 later this month, grew up around the Charlotte area. He went to North Carolina State University before graduating from Belmont Abbey College, a small Catholic school just west of Charlotte.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.