Connolly Wins Top Democrat Post on House Oversight Committee

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) questions witnesses during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on March 29, 2023. Cliff Owen/AP Photo

WASHINGTON—Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is set to be the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee following a contentious race between him and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

The House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which chooses conference committee members but recommends party members for top committee posts, recommended Connolly on Dec. 16.

The entire House Democrat conference must now confirm Connolly as the committee’s ranking member. However, it’s essentially a formality as Democrat and GOP conferences tend to go with their party’s steering committee recommendation.

The GOP will have control of the House in the 119th Congress, which begins Jan. 3, 2025, and therefore be in charge of committees.

Connolly will succeed Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who will succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Connolly was endorsed by the moderate New Democrat Coalition, while Ocasio-Cortez was backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus—highlighting a divide in the Democrat Party.

In a Dec. 3 letter to colleagues, Connolly remarked that Oversight Committee Democrats “must be an aggressive team focused on defending American democracy from President [Donald] Trump and articulating a Democratic agenda that resonates with our constituents.”

“Our constituents need to know that when it comes to them and their priorities, we are going to fight,” he added.

The committee, he wrote, “is a beat I know well, and right now, we need an expert who can parry the worst Republican attacks on our institutions and deliver reform where it is necessary and needed.”

Connolly pledged to “elevate the talent and diversity of our caucus.”

Connolly has represented Virginia’s 11th Congressional District since 2009.

The House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee also recommended on Dec. 16 that Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) be the top Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee and House Natural Resources Committee, respectively.

In what has been part of a major reshuffling of top Democrats on House committees, Craig succeeds Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) while Huffman succeeds Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who elected not to run again for the top House Natural Resources Committee post while undergoing cancer treatment.

Huffman said it is “an incredible honor” for the steering committee to recommend him as ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.

The committee, he said in a statement posted on X, “is my life’s work—water, wildlife, fisheries, public lands, tribal issues—and what I know and love the best. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and do the work to protect our treasured natural resources, lift up tribal and frontline communities.”

In a statement posted on X, Craig said she is “humbled” the steering committee recommended her to be the ranking member on the Agriculture Committee.

“I’m ready to help us win back rural Americans, and with them, a strong Democratic majority,” she said.