The three Democrats who want their party's top spot on House Oversight

On the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) are vying for the top Democratic role.

• Although Connolly and Lynch are more senior, Raskin has equally compelling experience as impeachment manager during the impeachment proceedings against former President Trump and as a member of the Jan. 6 Committee.
• House Democrats will soon decide whom they'll put up to match up with Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on two crucial House committees that'll be the first line of defense against pending Republican inquiries.

What we're watching: Ranking members on those committees can write letters pushing back on investigations and run out the clock during hearings, and their staff can sit in on closed-door interviews and serve as a funnel to Democrats with subpoena power on the Senate side.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is poised to return next Congress as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, after defeating Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the current Oversight Chair, in the primaries of New York's 12th Congressional District.

Both Raskin and Connolly made their case for why they should be elected to lead Democrats on the Oversight Committee.

Raskin, a constitutional scholar, told Axios: "I've thrown myself into the defense of the rule of law, the Constitution and government accountability and transparency and integrity, and I think we're still very much in the thick of this fight."

• "I'm very excited about the prospect of serving, but I think our candidates are uniformly excellent."

Connolly, chair of the Government Operations Subcommittee, says the question of how he'll go face to face with Comer and Jordan is not theoretical, saying, "I've been doing it! I've gone after Jim Jordan and it's gone viral. I've gone after Mr. Comer where appropriate."

• "I fought [Republicans] on Lois Lerner and the IRS. I fought them with Fast and Furious. I fought them on Benghazi. I fought the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails."
• "It's a very different skill set: defending a Democratic White House and taking the fight to the Republicans when you're in the minority than it is attacking a Republican president while you're in the majority."

Lynch, the committee’s longest-serving member, did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

What they're saying: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman of the subcommittee on economic and consumer policy, says the candidates have reached out to him but he has not yet made up his mind about whom he'll support.

• "Where the other side overreaches in their oversight or activities, you have to stand up. But where we can try to work together and get some things done, I think that walking that balance is so important."
• Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said of Nadler, "He is knowledgeable about the landscape of judiciary issues, from antitrust to criminal to constitutional issues — he's a brilliant lawyer — to immigration issues."
• "He lets his subcommittee chairs lead, and we work as a team."

The big picture: Outside Congress, the broader Democratic defense consists of a small White House apparatus and outside groups with deep Democratic ties including the Congressional Integrity Project and Facts First USA.

• The White House has been quietly building out a team across the White House counsel's office and the legislative affairs office to respond to Republican inquiries.

What they're saying: "You don’t bring your Steph Curry’s or Lebron James’ off the bench after you’ve dug yourself into a hole; you start them. That has to be the mentality of House Democrats," Bardella said.