New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she will seek the top Democratic spot on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in the next Congress, according to a letter she sent to colleagues on Friday.
Currently second in line to the ranking member, Ocasio-Cortez is bidding for the position since Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the current ranking member, is seeking to be the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee after New York Rep. Jerry Nadler said earlier this week he would not seek another term in that spot.
“This is not a position I seek lightly. The responsibility of leading Democrats on the House Oversight Committee during Donald Trump’s second term in the White House is a profound and consequential one,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in her letter. “Now, more than ever, we must focus on the Committee’s strong history of both holding administrations accountable and taking on the economic precarity and inequality that is challenging the American way of life.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been on the Oversight Committee since joining Congress in 2019, which was chaired for several years by another New Yorker, former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, while Democrats held the majority in the chamber.
“In the 119th Congress, Oversight Committee Democrats will face an important task: we must balance our focus on the incoming president’s corrosive actions and corruption with a tangible fight to make life easier for America’s working class,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “I know firsthand how the Majority uses their chaos to confuse, disorient, and distract the public’s attention away from their disastrous agenda. We cannot and will not allow that to happen. I will lead by example by always keeping the lives of everyday Americans at the center of our work.”
The Steering Committee will make recommendations for committee leadership in a few weeks and the Democratic caucus will at some point to decide their next leader. Virginia Rep. Jerry Connolly is also seeking the spot.
The current chairman of the committee is Kentucky Rep. James Comer.