Democrats, voting Tuesday on who should serve as their top member on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, overwhelmingly backed Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a 74-year-old with cancer, dealing a blow to the party's progressive wing and hopes that a younger generation would take over such leadership positions.
By a margin of 131 to 84, House Democrats voted for Connolly over the 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., whose bid for the top oversight job was reportedly opposed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, who underwent hip-replacement surgery over the weekend.
The caucus-wide vote came a day after Connelly, who announced last month that he's battling esophagus cancer, also won the backing of House Democrats' Steering and Policy Committee, which is chaired by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, by a vote of 34 to 27, according to lawmakers who spoke to Axios. The committee's support was nonbinding but seen as influencing the broader caucus.
The oversight position is likely to be highly visible in the years to come as Democrats seek to investigate alleged corruption and other wrongdoing by the incoming Trump administration.
Speaking before the vote to Politico, one House Democrat explained what appears to have been the prevailing wisdom: “While AOC is young, talented and incredibly inspiring to the progressive base, there’s been much conversation about whether it’s wise to promote the GOP’s favorite foil to lead a high-profile committee sure to provide the very content Republicans will use during the midterms to effectively define Dems as woke, Trump-hating leftists.”
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., 80, voted for Connelly but told Axios that someday soon Democrats may be willing to hand off power to the likes of Ocasio-Cortez.
"Our caucus is moving ever so gingerly toward bringing more and more young leadership in," he said ahead of Tuesday's vote, adding: "it's just a matter of time."
