Washington In an effort to defeat the second Trump administration, a strong group of congressional Democrats on Monday suggested Virginia Representative Gerry Connolly over New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for the top Democratic position on the House Oversight Committee.
According to a panelist, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which closely resembles Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a closed-door meeting and Connolly received 34 votes while Ocasio-Cortez received 27. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on Oversight, challenged Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., for a comparable position on the Judiciary Committee, forcing Nadler to resign, creating the vacancy.
In a surprise move, the Steering group on Monday suggested Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota as the Agriculture Committee’s top Democrat. She received 34 votes, defeating two considerably more experienced opponents, Georgia Rep. David Scott, who received only five votes and has been the top Agriculture representative since 2021, and California Rep. Jim Costa, who received 22 votes.
The Steering group chose senior Representative Jared Huffman, D-Calif., over more junior Representative Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., to be the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. 44 to 17 was the vote.
The recommendations made by the Steering panel are scheduled for a vote Tuesday morning by the entire Democratic Caucus. The complete caucus has occasionally overridden the panel’s votes and chosen a different candidate, even though the caucus usually accepts the committee’s recommendations.
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