AOC loses internal election to be top Democrat on House Oversight Committee

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) lost the vote to be the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee. The New York progressive was defeated in an internal vote by veteran Gerry Conolly (D-VA), who will succeed her colleague Jamie Raskin (D-MD) in that post.

AOC announced her intentions to lead Democrats on that committee in early December, when she wrote a letter to colleagues explaining her motives, "Now, more than ever, we must focus on the Committee’s strong history of both holding administrations accountable and taking on the economic precarity and inequality that is challenging the American way of life."

The progressive even received a public endorsement from the Republican chairman of the Oversight Committee, James Comer (R-KY).

However, when it came time to tally the Democratic bloc's votes, Conolly prevailed over Ocasio-Cortez. The veteran Virginia congressman won the seat on his second try, as he had run in the previous Congress.

"Connolly had shored up support among key Democratic blocs like the centrist New Democrat Coalition and had built strong relationships across the caucus during his tenure in Congress, including a powerful ally: former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Democrats are looking to use the Oversight Committee and its high-profile perch as a foil to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration in the next Congress," explained Politico about the Virginia congressman's political supporters within his party.

In turn, Conolly was the favorite of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which oversees committee assignments.

"It's going to be trench warfare"

Connolly celebrated his election on social media, where he released a statement previewing what his priorities will be for the next two years.

"This will be trench warfare. Now is not the time to be timid. I promise the American people that our Committee Democrats will be a beacon of truth and prepared for day one to counter Republican gaslighting. We will be disciplined. We will be laser focused on getting results on the kitchen table issues that affect the American people the most," he wrote.

What does the House Oversight Committee do?

According to its own website, its mission is to "ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government and all of its agencies."

"We check and balance the role and power of Washington, and give a voice to the people it serves," the website states.