Yesterday, quickly following the removal of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, a stand-in Speaker, aka Speaker Pro Tempore, became necessary under House rules. According to these rules, in January, McCarthy was required to provide the House clerk a then secret list of members that temporarily serve as Speaker of the House if the office became vacant.
So it came to pass that Patrick McHenry, McCarthy’s buddy, and a nine-term North Carolina Republican, was the first name on his list. He immediately took the gavel in hand and then the bull by the horns, boldly announcing the House in recess “subject to the call of the chair,” i.e., himself. How long a recess is unknown, although most expect the House back next week, thus giving members time to kibbitz and jockey and bloviate, and lie.
McHenry, allowing no grass to grow under his feet, then began Speaker Pro Teming, attacking pressing national concerns. After all, his ProTem powers under House rules allow him to govern issues deemed “necessary and appropriate.” After scurrying off the House floor, McHenry warmed to his powers immediately by addressing the massive housing crisis afoot in the House, where GOP members often live in the corridors and restrooms.
Phase one was decisive, summarily throwing 81-year-old Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi out of her honorific office. These few so-called “hideaway offices,” are traditional and intended to honor a few significant House members. Not a fan of tradition, according to AXIOS, McHenry’s “email asked Pelosi’s staff to ‘vacate the space tomorrow’ at which point the locks to the office will be changed.” Although Pelosi was in California at services for Diane Feinstein, 24-hour notice is apparently “necessary and appropriate,” not to put too fine a point on McHenry’s good nature. He would not be simply an empty suit, he would move ahead on vital issues, something new for his GOP majority in the 118th Congress. À la the French Revolution’s firebrand Georges Danton, McHenry is all in: “De l’audace, encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace.” What a checklist he must have. And lo and behold the audacious Mr. McHenry struck again, this morning, evicting 26-term, 84-year-old Maryland congressman Steny Hoyer; “No more hideaway for you!”
Many GOPers already jockey for pride of place in the reassignment of Pelosi’s and Hoyer’s offices. Moreover, expect more of the same. Mr. McHenry’s daring new House Housing Directorate is open for business. L’Audace!