AOC fights on for Oversight role as race is blown wide open
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally at Texas State University on Oct. 1, 2024.. Photo: Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is still contesting the race for House Oversight Committee ranking member despite losing a key vote Monday.
Why it matters: House Democrats' Steering and Policy Committee voted to recommend Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) for the role, but the full Democratic caucus still has to vote on whether to approve their pick.
- It is not unprecedented for the caucus to reject a steering suggestion — but the vote may give Connolly critical momentum after Ocasio-Cortez was seen by some as the favorite going into this week.
- "I'm gonna support Steering and Policy. I'm not on that committee but I'm assuming they listened to the candidates and hashed through it. So, there has to be a reason," said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.).
- "And obviously I want to get on the committees I want to get on, so I'm not going to piss anybody off," she added.
Driving the news: The steering panel — roughly 60 members who are mostly allies of leadership and senior lawmakers — voted for Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez in a 34-27 vote Monday afternoon.
- The battle between Ocasio-Cortez, 35, and Connolly, 74, came after multiple septuagenarian committee chairs were pushed out by relatively younger colleagues.
- But Connolly allies made the case that, despite his recent cancer diagnosis, he has the kind of vigor to lead a committee under the incoming Trump administration.
What they're saying: Ocasio-Cortez said after the vote that she plans to take it to the full caucus, telling Axios she is "locked in" and "just working hard right now."
- Her allies argued that the seven-vote margin was actually a stellar result for her and that she has a better chance in the full caucus, where members hew younger and less beholden to leadership.
- "The caucus as a whole, I think, may be more favorable than that very narrow group of people," said one House Democrat backing Ocasio-Cortez, who nonetheless acknowledged the steering vote "matters."
- A veteran House Democrat not supporting either candidate said the steering vote was a "great result" for Ocasio-Cortez, predicting, "This thing is going to be a dead heat."
The other side: Two other senior House Democrats predicted that Connolly would win the caucus vote, in large part because of the strength of his relationships.
- "I think Gerry will win. I think it'll be close ... [but] he's been here a long time, he's worked at it. I think it's a nod to the respect that they have for him," said one of the lawmakers.
- Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), for instance, said he committed to vote for Connolly "way back before some others got in."
Zoom out: In 2014, the full caucus voted to elect Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) to lead the Energy and Commerce Committee over Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), who won the steering vote.
- Eshoo was supported by then-House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Now the speaker emerita, Pelosi has been supporting Connolly.
- The Ocasio-Cortez ally noted that another Pelosi-backed candidate, Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), lost the steering vote to lead the Agriculture Committee on Monday, telling Axios: "Does it help or does it hurt to have Nancy Pelosi making calls for you?"
- "She was really out there saying I'm making calls to lots of people. I'm locking up the California vote. But ... people want to feel like their states are just as important," the lawmaker said.
The bottom line: Even Connolly's allies acknowledge that if she falls short tomorrow, Ocasio-Cortez is well-positioned to get the Oversight role — or another leadership slot — in the near future.
- "Our caucus is moving ever so gingerly toward bringing more and more young leadership in," said Cleaver.
- He added of Ocasio-Cortez: "If she doesn't get it when we have the vote, it's just a matter of time."
