(CNN) — Two Republican sources told CNN that the recently fired Kevin McCarthy was behind House Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry’s decision to remove former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer from their offices.
Republican Rep. Garrett Graves told reporters Wednesday that McCarthy will take the office that McEnery ordered Pelosi to give up.
“The office that Pelosi is in now is the previous president’s office. “Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats have decided they want a new president … so Kevin McCarthy gets the job,” he said.
Sources close to Pelosi and Hoyer say the move comes in response to Democrats’ vote to fire McCarthy on Tuesday. Unofficial offices are located near the ground floor of the house.
McCarthy and McHenry’s did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
Graves later blamed Democrats for removing McCarthy from office. “I don’t know what they’re complaining about,” he said. “They created this situation.”
This Tuesday, Pelosi said McHenry ordered her to vacate her office in the Capitol building. He maintains his regular office in the Canon House office building.
CNN saw an email sent from McHenry’s office to Pelosi’s office shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday: “I am reassigning h-132 for the use of the office of the president. Please vacate the space tomorrow.”
Pelosi said in a statement that she was not in Washington to move her belongings immediately.
“One of the first steps taken by the new presidential pro-democracy was to order me to vacate my office at the Capitol immediately, for all the major decisions of the new Republican Party that we all look forward to,” California said. Democrat. “Unfortunately, I am unable to retrieve my possessions at this time as I am in California to mourn the loss and pay tribute to my dear friend Dianne Feinstein.”
Feinstein, who served three decades in the Senate as the longest-serving senator in history, died last week at the age of 90 of ill health. A viewing will be held Wednesday at San Francisco City Hall before the funeral on Thursday.
In her statement, Pelosi said, “The departure is a sharp departure from tradition: As Speaker of the House, I gave former Speaker Hastert a substantially larger office suite than he wanted.”
“Office space is not important to me, but it is important to them,” he said. “Now that the new Republican leadership has addressed this critical issue, we hope they will act on what really matters to the American people.”
CNN has contacted McHenry for comment.
Speaker pro tempore, McHenry’s official title, has the power to vote on Congress and choose the next speaker of the House, suspend the chamber, adjourn it, and approve nominations for speaker.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is required by House rules to submit to the clerk a confidential list of persons “in the order in which each vacancy shall serve pro tempore for the Speaker.” McHenry, a staunch McCarthy ally, was the first name on that list.
