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Update, Dec. 17, 2024, at 12:12 p.m.: On Tuesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lost the vote to be the ranking Democrat of the House Oversight Committee to Rep. Gerry Connolly, who—as Axios put it—withstood “a generational revolt.” The original argument for putting Ocasio-Cortez in the position is printed below.
A late-December contest among the minority party in the House is rarely a headline-grabbing affair. But the Democratic Party is currently split over a committee position that is quite symbolic over its internal warring about the future. It involves—who else?—Nancy Pelosi and AOC.
After November’s drubbing, House Democrats signaled that they were prepared to accept a changing of the guard atop some of the important House committees.
It began with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, age 61, convincing Judiciary Committee ranking member New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, age 74, to step down from the post so Raskin could succeed him. Shortly after that, 60-year-old Jared Huffman of California convinced 76-year-old Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva to step down from the top Dem spot on the Natural Resources Committee.
In both of these cases, septuagenarians passed the torch to sexagenarians. But when it came time to replace Raskin on the important Oversight Committee, an actual young person made a play for the role: 35-year-old New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Almost overnight it seemed that AOC had the job sewn up: She secured the support of the majority of the Democratic members on Oversight and was talking to the press about her hopes for the role. But the position is not awarded by a vote of committee members. It’s voted on by the entirety of the House Democratic Caucus.
That’s where the trouble started. Not one to let a young person ascend quietly, Nancy Pelosi entered the fray. The patron........