When Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) announced Monday he was stepping aside from Democrats’ top slot on the House Oversight Committee due to health problems, the veteran lawmaker tapped Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) to temporarily fill in.
But Lynch has plans to hold the job for the long term. And that’s rankling progressives who privately worry the centrist Lynch – with the House Democratic leadership’s blessing – is boxing out any potential challengers.
The Oversight Committee is one of the highest-profile panels in Congress. And it’ll become a critical Democratic bulwark against President Donald Trump if the House flips next year.
“We really need street fighters right now,” said Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), who serves on the panel. Simon cited Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), currently Oversight vice ranking member, as top contenders to succeed Connolly.
The Oversight panel is stacked with younger liberals, many of whom openly criticize longstanding caucus norms around seniority. The House Democratic Caucus mood overall has started to shift on this issue, as evidenced by messy committee battles following last year’s disappointing election results for the party.
Making moves: Lynch, who previously ran for the top post on the Oversight panel, is already meeting with committee staff on the panel’s reconciliation strategy. Citing committee seniority, the 70-year-old Massachusetts Democrat – who first came to Congress in 2001 – confirmed that he intends to run for ranking member when the post opens up.
“It’s an investigations committee. It’s not just about ideas,” Lynch said. “As an attorney and someone who’s done probably 30 investigations in 25 years here in Congress, I think I’m well-positioned to do that.”
Some Democratic offices connected to the Oversight panel were also told Lynch would share the ranking member post with other members. Lynch, though, said he doesn’t intend to do that.
The AOC factor: Technically, there’s no vacancy on the panel yet, as Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar pointed out Tuesday. But several members have floated Ocasio-Cortez as a top potential contender.
Ocasio-Cortez lost to Connolly in a head-to-head match in December. She now serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. But several senior Democratic lawmakers and aides told us they think AOC could still run for the Oversight post due to precedent set late last year.
“I’m hoping that Alexandria will run,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who serves on Oversight. “She’s the best person to run the committee.” Ocasio-Cortez’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Candidate list: AOC isn’t the only Democrat who could challenge Lynch for the job. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Frost and Crockett have been floated as alternative options to lead the often combative committee.
Crockett has started making calls to members about her bid and spoke to Lynch privately about interim leadership.
“[Lynch] can’t run if there’s no vacancy,” Crockett said. “But if and when a vacancy occurs so long as the president is still Donald Trump and I’m still on Oversight, I have every intention of going forward.”
