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A high-profile Democrat who came to power during Donald TrumpHis first term is preparation for a very important job during his second. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hopes to become the ranking minority member of the powerful Supervisory Board of the Housecontinuing the generational shift among House Democrats following Trump’s 2024 election victory.
In a letter to the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — often known colloquially as AOC — she said she was looking for their support to lead the party’s side of the committee. The committee is the main investigative arm of the House of Commons with powers to investigate “any matter”, even those under the jurisdiction of other standing committees.
Currently, the ranking member position on the panel is held by the Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin — but will move to the House Judiciary Committee next Congress after ousting longtime member Jerry Nadler of New York.
Raskin, a former constitutional law professor who first entered Congress in 2017, won enough support this week to force Nadler to give up the seat he earned after decades on the bench. Raskin did so after arguing that after Trump’s victory, a new generation of leaders was needed to stand up to his Republican allies on Capitol Hill.
In her letter, Ocasio-Cortez said the position of ranking member of the Oversight Committee is “not a position I seek lightly” because the role during Trump’s second term will be “profound and consequential.”
“Now, more than ever, we must focus on the Committee’s strong history of both holding the administration accountable and taking on the economic insecurity and inequality that challenge the American way of life,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez also noted that Raskin used her to serve as a “Vice President’s member” during the current Congress. She praised what she described as Raskin’s “visionary leadership in combining a strong, disciplined, constitutional framework with the need to present the American people with a visceral, accessible anti-corruption and economic and civil rights story” and recalled how Democrats on the Oversight Board have successfully has rejected the impeachment inquiry that has been led by Republican Speaker James Comer of Kentucky for the past two years.
At the same time, Ocasio-Cortez said she would use her position to reach out across the aisle and work with Republicans when the opportunity arises, as long as it’s working toward “constructive, shared interests that serve the American people.”
“In the 119th Congress, Democrats on the Oversight Committee will face an important task: We must balance our focus on the corrosive actions and corruption of the next president with the tangible fight to make life easier for the American working class,” she said, adding that Democrats “cannot” and “will not” allow the GOP majority to use “their chaos to confuse, disorient and distract the public from their disastrous agenda.”