Washington A growing group of younger, more active House Democrats are running against seasoned veterans for influential legislative positions as Donald Trump returns to the White House, breaking the party’s long-standing custom of showing respect for seniority.
Democrats are closely observing the high-profile contest to be the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee as a litmus test about the future of seniority in the party, as they will elect their committee leaders behind closed doors next week.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., 74, who is fighting esophageal cancer and was recently elected to his ninth term, is facing off against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a 35-year-old member of the progressive team who is frequently cited as a potential presidential candidate.
According to a House Democrat with decades of congressional service, seniority will disappear if Hillary wins.
In response to challenges from comparatively younger upstarts, some influential committee leaders have already resigned. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., 77, the former chairman and current ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, was forced out of the contest when Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., 61, the senior Democrat on the Oversight Committee this Congress, declared he would run against Nadler. (Nadler joined Congress in 1992, but Raskin has been in the House since 2017.) Raskin became the Democratic leader on Judiciary as a result, and the Oversight position became available.
The ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, 11-term Representative Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., 76, took a lengthy leave of absence this year after announcing a cancer diagnosis, and six-term Representative Jared Huffman, D-Calif., 60, made a surprising bid against him. Instead of running for office, Grijalva stepped aside and threw his support to Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., 45, a fellow Southwesterner who was elected in 2020 and formally began her campaign on Monday.
Given two retirements, Huffman, the fourth-most senior Democrat on the panel this Congress, would rank second in seniority next year; Stansbury would probably rank fifth.
Fueled by ‘the Biden debacle’ in 2024 election
The phenomenon, according to a Democrat in the Biden administration, is a result of the Biden election fiasco, which taught younger Democrats that their elders won’t voluntarily go and that they occasionally need to be pushed out.
Long-standing friction that accumulated during the nearly two decades that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., occupied the conference’s top position is a secondary cause.
According to the Democratic official, there will be no room for members who are not capable of carrying out these duties under Trump 2.0. There was always going to be a revolt downstream, but it made natural that it would take a cycle after [Pelosi and her colleagues] went.
The official, who is not allowed to discuss politics in public, said it is in line with other instances of well-known liberals refusing to cede their positions of authority, such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who passed away last year, and regret over Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s choice to remain in office until her death in 2020, which allowed Trump to establish a conservative 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court.
For many years, rank-and-file members of the Democratic Party have chosen their committee leaders largely based on seniority. Additionally, committee members were virtually certain of remaining in their positions until they were retired, scandalized, or killed after they were elected chairman (or the top Democrat in a GOP majority).
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., 52, a Democratic “Frontliner” who is among the panel’s least senior members, and Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., 72, a third-generation farmer who is next in line in seniority, are challenging Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., 79, who has had health issues for years, in the race for ranking member of the Agriculture Committee.
According to Rep. Greg Casar, a 35-year-old Democrat from Texas who was chosen chair of the Progressive Caucus this week, the party’s top leadership is getting a boost of fresh energy.
Citing Raskin’s rise on the Oversight Committee during the previous session despite not being a senior member, he stated that that was already taking place. I believe that the Democratic caucus is beginning to realize that reform is necessary. We may, which occasionally may entail altering the individual in the position or simply altering our methods. We must, in my opinion, adapt and demonstrate to voters that we will stop at nothing to defend them.
‘There s a generational shift’
The call for generational transition is not limited to younger members of Congress. New blood is also desired by some seasoned MPs who have been waiting years for their turn to lead.
It’s good for you. To be honest, it’s past due in certain situations. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., a member of the powerful Financial Services Committee, stated that he has long admired the Republican system of term limits. He has previously suggested that committee leaders be subject to six-year term limits unless they receive waivers, which are the same term limits used by House Republicans.
Foster, 69, added that it’s a lot healthier approach for those who wind up serving in Congress for a long time to have successful careers while also giving those like me who entered Congress in my 50s after two successful previous jobs a chance to move forward.
Foster, one of the leaders of an attempt to force Pelosi, the House speaker at the time, to resign as Democratic leader following the 2022 midterm elections in favor of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is 54 years her junior, described the situation as somewhat intriguing, with baby boomers spearheading the push for generational change.
The Congressional Black Caucus, or CBC, has been one of the caucus’s pro-seniority power centers.
Black MPs used to have a hard time getting desired committee leadership positions decades ago. In order to assist some of its members in obtaining committee gavels and ranking member spots, the hitherto tiny CBC gave priority to seniority. As time passed, it resisted calls for term limits for committee leadership positions and vowed to stand by Pelosi and her team, protecting both of them.
That tactic worked. Five members of the CBC led House committees this Congress: Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., on Homeland Security; Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., on Foreign Affairs; Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on Financial Services; Bobby Scott, D-Va., on Education and Workforce; and David Scott, D-Agriculture.
In recent years, the CBC’s size and political influence have increased. A record 62 members of the CBC, or more than 25% of the 215 members of the Democratic caucus, will be present in the upcoming Congress. CBC leaders admit that the party is changing as its leaders age, even if they maintain that seniority is still a consideration in selecting leaders.
We clearly have a lot of talent, and the body is changing from one generation to the next. However, incoming CBC Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who is 60, stated, “I believe that there are enough people within the body who recognize the value of seniority but don’t necessarily see it as the only criteria.”
As they look for support from colleagues, Clarke and current CBC Chair Steven Horsford, D-Nev., announced that the group will host candidates who wish to run committees at a private meeting on Wednesday.
‘It takes experience to do things well’
Another CBC member, Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., 68, stated that she has no problem with younger members taking on more senior colleagues. Kelly will play a significant part in the selection process of the committee. She and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Nanette Barrag n of California were recently appointed by Jeffries as the three co-chairs of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which advises the entire caucus on how to appoint committee leaders.
The Jeffries-aligned steering panel will discuss and make recommendations during its meeting on Tuesday and probably again the following week. A secret ballot will then be used to vote by the entire caucus.
Everyone has always had the freedom to flee. You know, not everyone has done it. Furthermore, I now believe that just because someone has the right to run, it does not guarantee that they will win. According to Kelly, people who believe that seniority should be the only criterion will cast one vote, while those who believe that anything else should be used will cast another. “I am not entirely committed to seniority, but I do believe in it.
In support of seniority, a Democratic committee staffer argued that the House GOP system, which restricts committee chairs to three terms and requires exceptions for fourth terms, is a hot mess because new leaders often purge the staff of institutional knowledge. Additionally, several institutionalist leaders have chosen to completely leave Congress rather than take demotions when their terms are up due to GOP regulations.
According to the staffer, “I know Congress looks like a bunch of clowns, but in reality, it takes experience to do things well.”
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