AOC opts out of race for Dems’ top Oversight Committee spot

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat and Squad leader, has decided not to relaunch a bid for a coveted position on the House Oversight Committee. 

She previously ran to be the top-ranking Democrat on the panel last year, bolstered by other liberals in the House Democratic Caucus who wanted to see an injection of youth in leadership after a dismal performance in the 2024 election. 

However, she lost to Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Democrat, who last week announced he would leave his post following the return of his cancer. 

Speculation as to whether Ms. Ocasio-Cortez would again run for the job, despite no longer being on the committee and Democratic leadership actively pushing against her previous bid, swirled last week. 

But now the lawmaker has officially decided to not throw her name into the mix. 

”It’s actually clear to me that the underlying dynamics in the caucus have not shifted with respect to seniority as much as I think would be necessary, so I believe I’ll be staying put at Energy and Commerce,” she told reporters on Monday. 

As to whom she would like to see run instead, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she had no comment because “there’s no vacancy, there’s no official race yet.” 

House Democratic leadership, for now, is in no rush to replace Mr. Connolly. Though he announced that he would retire at the end of his term, he hasn’t completely relinquished the Oversight job. 

Instead, he tapped Rep. Stephen Lynch, Massachusetts Democrat, to act as the top Democrat on the panel in the interim. Mr. Connolly has also encouraged Mr. Lynch to run for the job if an election is officially called by Democratic leadership.

When asked whether Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s exit from contention for the position further affirmed him as the next lawmaker up, Mr. Lynch said that Mr. Connolly may have stepped back, but he has not stepped aside. 

“He’s very much involved, even though he’s undergoing some very serious treatments, right? But he’s very much guiding this committee,” Mr. Lynch said. “And he’s been telling me what to do for about 20 years, and that hasn’t changed.”

Meanwhile, other House Democrats have begun floating a possible bid. Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Robert Garcia of California are reportedly eying the job. 

Mr. Garcia said that he and others in the Democratic caucus were focused on Mr. Connolly’s health, and reiterated that there wasn’t currently an opening nor an election called by Democratic leadership. 

“People have approached me about the race, but I’m really just focused on Gerry,” he said.  

The Washington Times reached out to Ms. Crockett’s office for comment. 

Another young liberal, Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, said that he was no longer interested in jumping into the race and contended that the push from Democratic leadership to place lawmakers with more seniority into top position played into his calculations against a bid. 

But he countered that little by little, seniority was not the only factor that leadership was considering when deciding whom to support for top roles in the House.

“The committee is stacked with younger progressives, and it’s a committee that is a communications committee right now. Unfortunately, we’re not doing a ton of oversight,” he said. “So I think we have a good opportunity to elect somebody, a progressive, whether they’re younger or not.”