Washington Former constitutional law professor Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who was the Democratic lead prosecutor in the Trump impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 attack, announced to colleagues Monday that he would run against Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., for the top Democratic position on the influential Judiciary Committee.
Nadler, 77, has been in Congress since 1992, has been the leading member of the Judiciary panel since 2019, and has experienced several health scares recently. Despite being 61 years old, Raskin’s daring challenge against Nadler is another illustration of how a new generation of Democratic stars is challenging the party’s seniority structure and the establishment after the party suffered heartbreaking defeats in the 2024 elections.
The Judiciary Committee will serve as the focal point of the 119th Congress’s Congressional response to authoritarianism and MAGA’s effort to undermine the rule of law and our Constitution. A letter to colleagues was sent Monday by Raskin, a cancer survivor who was also a member of the special House committee that looked into the attack on January 6.
As someone who has fought cancer and chemotherapy, I can assure you that I will never, ever give up,” he added. “I hope to be at the center of this struggle.”
Raskin, the current ranking member of the Oversight Committee, also praised Nadler, who is seeking a fourth term as the head of the Judiciary panel for Democrats, in his three-page letter.
Finally, I would like to state that I take this action with the utmost respect and admiration for my friend Jerry Nadler and his incredible fifty years of service in Congress and New York public office. In the event that I am selected for this role in the 119th Congress,” Raskin wrote, “I will go to Jerry first and foremost for his consistently astute advice and political acumen.
Raskin, who was elected to the House for the first time in 2016, is not the only Democrat this year to declare that they will challenge a longstanding committee leader.In his own letter on Monday, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., informed colleagues that it was time for him to step down as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. This came after Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., declared he would run against the 76-year-old.
After announcing a cancer diagnosis in April, Grijalva, who has been a member of Congress since 2003, had been absent from votes for a number of months.Huffman, 60, was elected to Congress for the first time in 2012.
Reps. Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Angie Craig, D-Minn., are competing to replace longstanding representative David Scott, D-Ga., who is 79 years old and has long struggled with health concerns, in a campaign for the top spot on the Agriculture Committee.
Next week, the whole Democratic Caucus is set to hear recommendations from the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which is closely aligned with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., about the selection of top Democrats for each committee in the upcoming Congress. A final vote would then be taken by the caucus.
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