WASHINGTON — Longtime Representative Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing his campaign to continue serving as the leading Democrat on the influential Judiciary Committee for the next two years. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., had declared two days prior that he would run against Nadler for the coveted position.
Nadler, 77, endorsed Raskin, 61, for the position in a letter to fellow Democrats. The position will be crucial in providing congressional oversight of the Justice Department and FBI under the upcoming Trump administration. Since Raskin has no other opponents, Nadler’s decision to withdraw opens the door for him.
Nadler added in the letter, “I am very confident that Jamie would ably lead the Judiciary Committee as we confront this growing danger as our country faces the return of Donald Trump and the renewed threats to our democracy and our way of life that he represents.” As a result, I have chosen not to be a candidate for the 119th Congress’s Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee.
Nadler has been in Congress since 1992 and has been the top member of the Judiciary panel since 2019. Despite a few recent health worries, he was handily re-elected in November.
I will be an active member of the Committee even if I will not be Ranking Member, and I am excited to join its new leadership in the fight to defend our most vulnerable neighborhoods and our most valuable democratic values,” Nadler stated.
Nadler’s withdrawal from the race was originally reported by the New York Times.
Elected to Congress in 2016, Raskin, a longtime professor of constitutional law, has been the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee for the last two years. The battle to lead Oversight is now open as a result of his shift to the Judiciary; Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., has already declared his intention to run, and other Oversight members, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are experimenting. Ocasio-Cortez is 35 while Connolly is 74.
It’s not generational, in my opinion. “I got to present it that way because it’s about experience, record, and capability,” Connolly told reporters, adding that he was the head of an oversight panel. “She’s a fresh talent with a lot of potential, but I’m the only candidate who actually has a subcommittee. The committee has my investment. That, in my opinion, is really significant.
After discussing a possible bid with other members, Ocasio-Cortez stated on Wednesday that she had nothing to declare, saying, “I have been receiving a lot of input from my colleagues, and we’ll be making a decision.”
“I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Gerry Connolly…. I love Gerry,” she continued.
Raskin has been the party’s rising star. Following the Jan. 6 incident, Raskin was chosen by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to serve as the Democratic lead prosecutor in the Trump impeachment trial. He was also named to the special committee that was entrusted with looking into the Capitol assault.
In his book “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy,” published in 2022, he wrote of the brawl in the Capitol six days after his 25-year-old son committed suicide on December 31, 2020.
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. Two-time cancer survivor Raskin announced his bid in a letter to colleagues this week.
As someone who has fought cancer and chemotherapy, I can assure you that I will never, ever give up, and I hope to remain at the forefront of this war,” he stated.
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