By Marianna Sotomayor · The Washington Post (c) 2024
House Democrats on Tuesday will elect new leaders to helm three key committees, a shake-up that signals the generational shift underway as the they prepare to take on a second Trump administration.
In the run-up to the vote, younger lawmakers challenged ranking Democratic members who have led their committees for years. These challengers and their allies appear less concerned with seniority and more willing to nudge out elder statesmen to make sure they have the sharpest leaders in place to take on President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda and tussle with House Republican chairmen.
The push to replace President Joe Biden with a younger presidential candidate also led some House Democrats to take a second look at older committee leaders, particularly those in poor health, according to multiple lawmakers and aides familiar who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal caucus conversations.
“House Democrats have clearly been in the midst of a generational transition,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said at his news conference last week.
But he cautioned against the idea that younger members were going after old-timers, noting that Democrats voted last week to ratify keeping two septuagenarians and two octogenarians as top party members of their respective committees. “The best members who happen to be the most senior members to lead those committees emerged at the top,” he said.
Lawmakers on Tuesday will vote behind closed doors on the leadership of the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Oversight and Accountability committees. Unlike the House Republican conference, Democrats do not set term limits on top party members to serve on committees and often reelect those who seek another term – a practice that has led some lawmakers to seek higher office rather than wait years to one day wield a powerful committee gavel.
Health has been a major consideration. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), who at 76 has led the Natural Resources Committee for 20 years, and Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia), 78, the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, have missed a majority of votes this term as they battled illnesses.
Several lawmakers also encouraged Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), 62, to challenge Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York), 77, privately arguing that the House Judiciary Committee needed an agile and sharp Democrat to fiercely argue against Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other Trump allies on the committee.
Grijalva and Nadler stepped aside after realizing they would not have significant support from Democrats this term, according to multiple people familiar who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal caucus discussions. But Scott decided to stay in the race and face Rep. Jim Costa (D-California), who, at 72, is next in line to serve on the House Agriculture Committee, and Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota).
Democrats who serve on the powerful Steering Committee, which makes procedural decisions for the caucus, blocked Scott from serving as the top Democrat on Agriculture on Monday, instead recommending that colleagues elect Craig, 52. She has argued that her rural swing-district credentials place her closely to what farmers and others in the industry need, and that if elected, she would be the only top Democrat member who does not come from a coastal state.
They also suggested Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) lead the House Oversight Committee over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) to lead the House Natural Resources Committee.
“It’s not the will of the caucus,” said Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-California), who sits on the Steering Committee but was disappointed by the outcome.
House Democrats could vote against the Steering Committee’s recommendations Tuesday. The Democratic caucus voted for Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-New Jersey) to lead House Energy and Commerce over Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-California), whom Steering recommended for the post in 2014, for instance.
Ocasio-Cortez, 35, is hoping for that outcome. She has won over a significant number of her colleagues, leading many within the caucus to believe she could pull off a win. Younger lawmakers across the ideological spectrum, including moderates, are backing Ocasio-Cortez because they believe she will take the fight to Republicans in rambunctious, made-for-TV Oversight hearings.
Ocasio-Cortez on Monday urged her supporters not to lose hope, writing on Bluesky, a social media platform, that they should “not be discouraged.”
“A close vote is what we needed here and that’s what we got. Stay POSITIVE and PRAYERFUL,” she wrote.
Connolly, 74, who is next in line to serve on Oversight, has not shied away from talking about his esophageal cancer diagnosis, reminding colleagues that he continues to show up to votes and that Raskin, who runs unopposed to lead House Judiciary, also battled cancer this term while he ran Oversight.
“I intend to follow that model, and I’m not going to miss things,” Connolly said. “I am showing up.”
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Leigh Ann Caldwell and Paul Kane contributed to this report.