PARSING PATRICK’S POWERS The word “unprecedented†often gets bandied about in politics for things that are actually just uncommon. What’s happening now in the House, however, is truly unprecedented. When Kevin McCarthy was removed as House speaker on Tuesday, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) was immediately installed as acting speaker pro tempore under a little-known provision written into the House rules after 9/11. McHenry was at the top of a secret list of successors that McCarthy drafted and sent to the clerk pursuant to that rule, meant to provide continuity of government. What McHenry is doing with his powers — and their ultimate extent — is now a matter of serious debate: Is he just supposed to conduct the election for McCarthy’s successor? Or can he govern more broadly? McHenry’s moves: So far, McHenry’s overt actions on the floor have been minimal: He immediately put the House into recess after McCarthy’s ouster Tuesday, then brought the chamber back to order yesterday to adjourn it. Behind the scenes, however, there have been mixed messages: He appears not to be undertaking the speaker’s basic ministerial duties — such as referring introduced bills to committees — but he did exercise the office’s broad authority over Capitol real estate when he evicted former speaker Nancy Pelosi and former majority leader Steny Hoyer from their prime hideaway offices. That has created some confusion about the extent of McHenry’s powers — as well as some concern, given that his every move creates precedent for a future speaker pro tempore, perhaps one who might be appointed under more perilous circumstances. The eviction “seems completely out of line with a narrow reading that says [McHenry] is supposed to just be running the election,†said Matthew Glassman, a former Congressional Research Service analyst who’s now a senior fellow at Georgetown University and has written extensively on the issue this week. But, as Glassman added, “ultimately, the House can make its rules and change them whatever it wants and overrule the precedents.†What his colleagues are saying: No member of GOP leadership has explicitly laid out where exactly they believe McHenry’s powers begin and end. Aides to House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) did not respond to Huddle’s request for comment. But Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who serves on the panel, said McHenry is “literally a figurehead†who is there for emergency purposes only. “Under our interpretation of the rules, he does not have the power to move bills on the floor,†he said. That interpretation is at odds with McHenry’s decision to literally send Pelosi and Hoyer packing, said Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Rules Committee Democrat, in a public posting Wednesday. “Given the plain text of the rule, I don't think he has that power,†McGovern (D-Mass.) said, citing a 2004 Rules Committee report that an acting speaker pro tempore serves "for the sole purpose of electing a new Speaker." Another person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe internal House discussions over the acting speaker rule, said the plain text is clear even if McHenry’s interpretation isn’t. “This rule was not written for this situation: It was made for a disaster, not political infighting in the Republican Party,†the person said, while adding, “This has never happened, so there’s no precedent.†Related read: How does a ‘frozen’ U.S. House function without a speaker? Everyone’s got an opinion, from Jacob Fischler and Jennifer Shutt at the States Newsroom — Daniella Diaz, with assists from Katherine Tully-McManus and Anthony AdragnaÂ
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