Two senior Democrats on the panel, Reps. Stephen Lynch and Kweisi Mfume, are vying for the role against two younger members, Reps. Robert Garcia and Jasmine Crockett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 Democrats on Tuesday will select their new leader of the House Oversight Committee, a lawmaker who will play a critical role in investigating President Donald Trump and his administration in the next Congress if the party takes control of the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a highly competitive, four-way race for the top Democratic slot on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, with no clear front-runner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the race has broken down along generational lines, with two younger upstarts in their 40s vying for the job against two seasoned septuagenarians on the committee. And it comes amid concerns<\/a> from some members of the party that aging Democrats<\/a> don\u2019t have the energy or tactical abilities to take on Trump in such a hypercharged political environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opening on the Oversight Committee occurred after Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., died of cancer at 75 last month, just five months after he beat back a challenge<\/a> from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, of New York, for the ranking member position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The four Democratic lawmakers running this time around are: Rep. Stephen Lynch, 70, of Massachusetts, the acting ranking member on the panel; Rep. Kweisi Mfume, 76, of Maryland, a senior member of the panel and a former president of the NAACP; Rep. Robert Garcia, 47, of California, who was the first Latino and first openly gay mayor of Long Beach; and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, 44, of Texas, a former civil rights attorney and rising star in the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday night, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which is closely aligned with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., will vote to make a recommendation about who should lead Oversight Committee Democrats. Then, on Tuesday morning, the full Democratic caucus will vote in a closed-door, secret-ballot election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lynch, who has served in Congress since 2001, is the most senior of the four, and received Connolly\u2019s endorsement shortly before his death. Connolly also had tapped Lynch to fill in for him as acting ranking member when he took a leave of absence in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Massachusetts Democrat has argued there is a need for \u201cexperience\u201d in the leadership role, especially given that most members on the panel have served only a few terms in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garcia and Crockett were both elected in 2022. Garcia, who emigrated with his mother from Peru at a young age, got a big boost when he was endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, an influential voting bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Mfume and Crockett are members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), a 62-member group that in the past has swayed some leadership races. But because two of its members are running, the caucus is staying neutral. It also has long been a proponent of Democrats\u2019 seniority system, which typically favors the most senior member of a committee. But that view appears to be evolving as the makeup of the overall caucus changes, the group\u2019s chairwoman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the CBC, [seniority] still remains a mainstay,\u201d Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., the caucus chair, said. \u201cBut I think that as the body has newer and newer members, they\u2019re looking at another sort of additional matrix in terms of making those determinations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an interview, Mfume said he did not view it as a disadvantage that two CBC members are running against each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople should remember, we\u2019re not monolithic. Never have been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mfume\u2019s first stint in Congress was from 1987 to 1996, when he accepted the job to lead the NAACP. Another Maryland Democrat, Elijah Cummings, succeeded Mfume in Congress and went on to become chairman of the Oversight Committee. But when Cummings died in 2019, Mfume won his old House seat back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if he\u2019s the right person to take on Trump, Mfume replied: \u201cI think I\u2019m one of the right persons. I don\u2019t think that anybody is the this or the that, but \u2026 I\u2019ve been standing up to him since he\u2019s been in office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ranking member of the Oversight Committee has limited power. But if Democrats win back control of the House in the midterms, they will hold all of the committee gavels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And one of the most powerful and far-reaching is the Oversight gavel. With it, Democrats would have broad authority to investigate Trump and his administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crockett made a big splash<\/a> during her speech at the Democratic National Convention last summer, and she has a penchant for going viral during TV appearances, at committee hearings<\/a> and on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More recently, she differentiated herself from her rivals by saying she would pursue impeachment against Trump in 2027 if she becomes the Oversight Committee chairman, even though it’s unclear if enough House Democrats would support the move and the Senate would be unlikely to convict him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust because we don\u2019t have the votes doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s OK to violate the Constitution, it\u2019s OK to violate federal law, it\u2019s OK to violate state law,\u201d Crockett said. \u201cLike, that doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s OK, and I want the American people to know that I know it\u2019s not OK.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd ultimately, when you head to the polls, you need to blame the Republicans,\u201d she continued, \u201cbecause the Republicans are the ones that decided to avoid their oath to the Constitution and swear their open loyalty to the man in the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel, 77, of Florida, is backing Crockett, who she says has a rare ability to reach voters, even in Frankel’s West Palm Beach district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The common complaint that we hear is, ‘What are Democrats doing to fight back?’ And she is. She\u2019s a proven fighter,” Frankel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Nothing to take away from any of those other gentlemen, but I was at a town hall meeting with 200 people over the age of 75,” she continued. “And the thing that got the biggest applause of the night is when I said, ‘I\u2019m supporting Jasmine Crockett for Oversight chair.’ People knew who she was. They were screaming.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n