Pelosi says interim House speaker McHenry has ordered her to vacate her office in the Capitol building : usa

[–] Neato@kbin.social 25 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Pelosi added in her statement that the “eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” saying: “As Speaker, I gave former Speaker Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”

“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them,” she said. “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.”

I'm confused. She wasn't the speaker, so why are they re-assigning her office space? Did she somehow still have the traditional "Speaker of the House" office and McCarthy didn't want it/ask for it? Or is she just in a nice office in the Capitol building and McHenry is reassigning the space for...reasons?

Either way, this seems like a dick move made to spite Pelosi. And by an interim speaker, no less. Republicans truly are drunk with any tiny scraps of power they can get.

[–] Adramis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 year ago

Or is she just in a nice office in the Capitol building and McHenry is reassigning the space for…reasons?

This one. McCarthy moved into the speaker's office before the vote was settled that he was the speaker.

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 24 points 1 year ago

It's tradition for the former speaker to have an office. Pelosi also allowed the Republican who was speaker before her to maintain an office.

This is just spite.

[–] sqw@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago

the magas want to move into pelosi’s office to try and get high off a whiff of the literal and figurative poopoo that their pals left there on 1/6

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Pelosi added in her statement that the “eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,” saying: “As Speaker, I gave former Speaker Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.”

For those who don't know, Haster is a pedo that got sent to jail

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hastert

And he resigned within a year of losing speaker, either Pelosi is exaggerating how similar these situations are, or she let him keep an office in the capital despite not holding office. Even if he kept it up till he resigned, he resigned in early November.

Pelosi even gave a little speech about how awesome this scumbag was when he resigned.

[–] DrPop@lemmy.one 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I just it very interesting that the current narrative being said by Republicans is that"Matt Gaetz, is Biden favorite Republican,". This representative was on NPR talking about Republicans next move and she said this 3-4 times in 5 minutes. I decided to look that phrase up and it only started happening in the past few days. I'm tied of these games. Rather them dealing with the potential shutdown let's hop offices.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 9 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday said the newly named interim speaker, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, has ordered her to vacate her office in the Capitol building.

“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,” the California Democrat said.

“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 will lie in state at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday ahead of funeral services Thursday.

Kevin McCarthy as speaker was required to submit a confidential list to the clerk of people “in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore in the case of a vacancy,” according to House rules.

McHenry, a strong ally of McCarthy, was the top name on that list.

The original article contains 435 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 60%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] DougHolland@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago

There are things going on that are less important than which monstrous Republican is Speaker of the House and which office Nancy Pelosi's desk is in, but Republicans are fucking the world over in many, many far more important ways.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Steny Hoyer now, too.

[+] GCostanzaStepOnMe@feddit.de -8 points 1 year ago

Good bit

[+] robsuto@lemmy.ml -24 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This seems kinda dumb to report on at the moment.

No actual journalism done to dig into this to see why. Maybe he just wanted the office, or maybe he's being political and trying to piss of the dems.

Without additional information, we have no idea if this is a sign of something, or a big nothing burger.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 45 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Except he did know that Pelosi was out of town; she didn't vote on the motion to vacate, after all. Furthermore, she is out of town for a rather high-profile funeral. Even if he was within his powers to order this (which is debatable), and he had a valid reason, he could have waited until she came back to do this.

[–] NateNate60@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 year ago

Not just any high-profile funeral. San Francisco is Pelosi's constituency. She represents San Francisco in the House of Representatives, so if any member of Congress has a good excuse to be absent, it's her.

[–] robsuto@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Good point.

[–] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Considering that the interim speaker’s only job is to hold votes on the election of a new house speaker, and that no other house business can continue until a new speaker is chosen, this is clearly a petty, political move.

[–] robsuto@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Good point.

[+] quindraco@lemm.ee -11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That's just false. We're not where we were last January, and the Speaker Pro Tempore can preside over business which isn't electing the new Speaker. That's why we're not currently panicking about the shutdown returning - if you were right, there would be no time to vote on funding the government, and the shutdown would be inevitable.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We're not where we were last January

That's true, all members are sworn in and committees are still in place

and the Speaker Pro Tempore can preside over business which isn't electing the new Speaker.

I don't think that part is true. Every time someone quotes House rules on this, that says that the temporary Speaker can run the chamber, they leave out the bits where the temporary powers are "pending the election of a Speaker". And in this case, "pending" means "in anticipation", and implies that the only thing this temporary Speaker can do is call to elect a permanent one.

[+] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The House is the final authority of it's own rules. If they say the Speaker Pro Tempore can conduct house business, then he can. End of discussion.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not quite. The Constitution says that there must be a Speaker, chosen by its members. The Speaker Pro Tem was picked by a single member, the outgoing speaker, based on a list he provided prior to exiting. He does not meet the Constitutional requirement to fill the chair, and will not unless the entire body chooses him.

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He is Speaker for the present. Constitutionally he fulfills the position of speaker of the house. At this point the house can decide how they want to proceed.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Constitutionally he fulfills the position of speaker of the house.

No, he does not.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker

That implies a vote among the whole membership, not some list some guy made.

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The house has chosen the new speaker. He is an interim because of the agreement of the house to hold another vote at some point. But he is for all intents and purposes the new speaker. The house members voted to replace the former speaker with a temporary one, that is how they chose. Additionally the voting system can be anything the house wants it to be. If the house says that the current speaker gets to choose the new speaker, that would fulfill the requirement. There is not specific method the house has to use to choose the new speaker.

They could have foot race, and the winner of that foot race is the new speaker. Totally constitutionally legal. They can also choose a new speaker in any manner they wish.

As far as how the current speaker of the house was chosen. From the public timeline of the The House (reverse chronological order):

04:46:55 PM The House received a message from the Acting Clerk. The Acting Clerk notified the House that the Honorable Patrick T. McHenry is the first name on the letter he received pursuant to clause 8(b)(3)(B) of rule I.

04:46:33 PM The Chair announced that the Office of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant.

04:45:30 PM H. Res. 757 On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 216 - 210 (Roll no. 519).

https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/117-House-Rules-Clerk.pdf clause 8(b)(3)(B) of rule I

"(A) In the case of a vacancy in the Office of Speaker, the next Member on the list described in subdivision (B) shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore. Pending such election the Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end. (B) As soon as practicable after the election of the Speaker and whenever appropriate thereafter, the Speaker shall deliver to the Clerk a list of Members in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore under subdivision"

So to translate. According to the rules of the current session of congress (117th) that was ratified by the house of representatives after they were seated in January 2022. If the Speaker has been declared vacant by the majority of representatives, then Rule 1 Section 8 will be invoked. So that list that "some guy" made, is the actual and constitutional next speaker of the house. End of story. There is nothing magic about it. It was just the agreed upon rules of this congress from 10 months ago.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is so, so wrong. The motion was to "vacate the chair", not to play musical chairs. The chair is still vacant. There is no constitutionally empowered Speaker, just a guy the House agrees can help it choose the next one, once he gets around to it.

[–] mateomaui@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Is that PowerCrazy guy still arguing about it? I blocked his nonsense so I can only assume that’s what’s happening here.

edit: tbf, it could be someone or something else

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -5 points 1 year ago

Can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink. I hope you don't vote.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 3 points 1 year ago

Honestly, we don't know.

This is the first time that the Speaker Pro Tempore position has actually been filled, and it was originally intended to have Congress function after an attack while also providing for a line of succession to the President.

It is expected that the House is going to need to elect a new Speaker, as that election is going to impact how the House runs itself.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They can just give the Speaker Pro Tempore more powers like that?

Why bother with electing a new Speaker then?

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A new speaker is constitutionally required, however the Speaker Pro Tempore fulfills that constitutional requirement. Once that requirement has been filled, the house is free to run itself in whatever manner it chooses including rearranging the office furniture while the country is on fire.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml -5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm asking why not just keep the Speaker Pro Tempore? Why have a vote at all?

[–] mateomaui@reddthat.com 1 points 1 year ago

Because that would allow an ongoing process of just appointing a new Speaker pro tempore by the current Speaker (or current pro tempore), then voting to remove the current Speaker and let the new tempore take over, etc, so the Speaker is never voted in by a majority by both sides. It’s an intentional limit to make sure the current party cannot just keep passing the ball without input from the other side except to remove whoever is currently in the position.

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -4 points 1 year ago

The house can if they want. But presumably some plurality of the house would prefer a different speaker, so that vote will probably happen at some point in the future. It doesn't have to though.

[–] mateomaui@reddthat.com 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Rep Jim McGovern has expressed some concerns about the validity of all this:

how would he know?

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He may want to check the rules that he ratified for the 117th congress (the current congress) because what was suggested 20 years ago isn't what the current rules say.

(3)(A) In the case of a vacancy in the Office of Speaker, the next Member on the list described in subdivision (B) shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore. Pending such election the Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end.

So until a new speaker is elected, the speaker pro tempore has all the authority of the speaker. https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/117-House-Rules-Clerk.pdf

[–] mateomaui@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did you actually read the text you quoted there?

shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or Speaker pro tempore

may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end.

Have a seat, McGovern knows what he’s talking about, you don’t.

[+] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Pending such election the Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end.

Anyway. It's all moot because guess what? The speaker of the house is exercising his authority thereof regardless of the whining of people like you and McGovern.

[–] mateomaui@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What part of that sentence do you not understand? It means that he has all authorities of the Speaker to the end of electing a new Speaker. Nothing else. Are you an idiot?

It’s not really a moot point. He’s attempting to exercise power he doesn’t actually have, and as far as I know Pelosi hasn’t actually vacated yet because his power got checked by McGovern.

Someone like yourself complaining about whining is hilarious, you’re probably bitching about Pelosi all the time. And so mad that Trump is on trial for things he did.

Go sit your dumb ass down.

edit:

You may also want to go back and check the context and your claim overall, because in the second screenshot, he first quotes the “necessary and appropriate” portion from the new rules, and then says that such power was narrowly defined in a previous session, and provides a image of that text.

So he quoted both the relevant portion of the new rule, and provided the narrowly defining text when it was first introduced.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I disagree. This is unusual and newsworthy. The 'why' is given in the article: Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry wants it for "speaker office use". It is rare that news CAN contain any more of a 'why' because we rarely know actual reasons. Sometimes we get BS reasons like "I don't pay taxes because I'm smart" when the truth is closer to "I don't pay taxes because I lie to the IRS, but since those docs are private, you'll never know." Sometimes little birds chirp rumors about underlying reasons over drinks, but it would be negligent for reporters to wait until then to give the public notice that something is up.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Update: CNN says Kevin McCarthy is responsible for moving Pelosi and Hoyer out of their offices and it was done as 'real estate revenge' and Kevin is moving IN to Pelosi's office. They say an anonymous republican source told them, "Kevin is on a revenge tour. Patrick would never do that on his own. This was Kevin's call."

[+] Gimmick@lemmy.dbzer0.com -37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Good. Fuck her. Shes not mourning any more than anybody surrounding the late senator. Those evil fucks have been doing the weekend at Bernie's thing for at least the last year.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago

She's not going to move anything herself anyway, she's also a walking corpse.

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