Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York failed in her first bid to parlay her high-profile publicity into political power, according to new reports.
The House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee is recommending Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia to become the ranking member of the powerful House Oversight Committee, Axios reported.
Ocasio-Cortez was seeking to upend a more senior legislator despite opposition from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
UPDATE: Tonight, Pelosi successfully couped AOC from the House Oversight Committee.
AOC has spent the past 4 years being largely compliant with the Dem Establishment, only for them to reject her again.
Hilarious. https://t.co/BaDXVb7WgZ
— Vince Dao (@VinceDaoTV) December 17, 2024
According to NBC, Connolly received 34 votes against 27 for Ocasio-Cortez. NBC cited a member of the panel it did not name.
Democrats have been shuffling leadership in the House with the expressed intent of taking on the incoming Trump administration.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland challenged Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York to become the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. Raskin’s success prompted the race for his former position on the Oversight Committee.
re: House Oversight Committee
So AOC lost out to a centrist 74-year-old repesentative from the DC suburbs after Pelosi whipped votes in his favor. The moral of the story is that AOC traded in any credibility she may have had in order to chase power & she lost 1/2— Holly🍉 (@HollyBlomberg) December 16, 2024
Will AOC run for president one day?
In the leadership shuffle, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota won a race to be the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee.
With 34 votes, she defeated fellow challenger Democratic Rep. Jim Costa of California, who got 22 votes, and Democratic Rep. David Scott of Georgia, who had been the top Democrat on the panel since 2021, got five votes.
Axios noted that the full Democratic caucus will vote on the recommendations and is not required to accept them.
One source told the site that Ocasio-Cortez was facing a hard sell with panel members.
Today’s reminder that no change agent will be able to “nice” their way to power inside the Democratic Party — power will have to be ripped away from the establishment. They’re not gonna give it away in exchange for good manners or being a “team player.” https://t.co/MQVglsCFE6
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) December 16, 2024
The committee is “made up of the most senior members,” the House Democrat Axios did not name said.
“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,” Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California said, according to Axios.
“And obviously I want to get on the committees I want to get on, so I’m not going to piss anybody off,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez said after losing the vote she would not give up and was “locked in” and “just working hard right now.”
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