Mr. Speaker: Himes subs for Pelosi

 

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., presides over the House as speaker during a late-night session Wednesday in the chamber.

 

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., channeled his inner Conan O’Brien just before midnight on Wednesday, subbing for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the presiding officer of the chamber in front of skeleton crew of lawmakers.

Himes occupied the speaker’s chair for nearly two hours while Republican lawmakers Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania, Phil Gingrey of Georgia, Todd Akin of Missoui and Steve King of Iowa railed on “Obamacare,” bailouts and the estate/death tax in front of the mostly empty chamber.

The proceedings aired live on C-SPAN, going up against late-night funnymen Conan, David Letterman and Jay Leno. 

With his party relegated to the minority come January, Himes indicated it probably will be the last time he gets to clutch the speaker’s gavel for at least two years.

Neil Vigdor