Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is poised for defeat in her effort to lead the Democratic minority on the House Oversight Committee, with reports suggesting Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has worked behind the scenes to derail her candidacy.
This “backroom sabotage” reflects a long-standing personal vendetta and reluctance to embrace generational change, argued Slate writer Alexander Sammon. Pelosi, despite stepping back from official leadership, appears unable to let go of a feud with Ocasio-Cortez dating back six years.
“After November’s drubbing, House Democrats signaled that they were prepared to accept a changing of the guard atop some of the important House committees,” Sammon wrote, pointing to leaders like Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) stepping aside for younger voices.
However, when Ocasio-Cortez emerged as a contender for the Oversight Committee’s ranking member role and began gathering momentum, Pelosi intervened.
“Not one to let a young person ascend quietly, Nancy Pelosi entered the fray,” wrote Sammon. “The patron saint of Democratic gerontocracy, 84-year-old Nancy Pelosi… actively threw her weight behind 74-year-old Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, who was just diagnosed with throat cancer.”
Pelosi, recovering from a recent fall and hip replacement surgery, has reportedly been “whipping votes from a hospital bed” to secure Connolly’s position over Ocasio-Cortez. Sammon argued that while some centrist Democrats are uneasy about Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive stance, she is particularly well-suited for this role.
“During a second Trump presidency, Oversight will be one of the most important bully pulpits to expose and interrogate the incoming administration’s flagrant corruption,” Sammon noted. Ocasio-Cortez, already a member of the committee, has repeatedly made headlines with her pointed questioning of Trump allies.
“Her ability as an explainer is top-notch, and her penchant for conveying outrage and injustice is sorely lacking in the party’s upper echelons,” he added. Connolly, for his part, has extensive experience on the committee and earned respect for pushing back against Republican investigations during the Obama administration. However, Sammon pointed to a stark difference in influence:
“It’s pretty obvious which one of these representatives has a bigger megaphone to explain what’s going on. Ocasio-Cortez has 8.1 million followers. Connolly has 4,600.”
While Pelosi played a critical role in uniting Democrats to push President Joe Biden out of running for a second term, Sammon argued those same tactics are harder to justify now.
“When an eminently qualified rising star — who, whether Pelosi likes it personally or not, is widely known to be a cornerstone of the party’s future — pushes for a simple promotion,” Sammon concluded, Pelosi’s intervention feels counterproductive.