On Monday evening, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R-N.Y.) revealed that she was chosen to be the #2 Democrat House Oversight Committee.
“Excited and humbled to share that this evening I was selected to serve as @RepRaskin’s #2 on the House Oversight Committee,” she tweeted. “Thank you to my colleagues on @OversightDems for entrusting me with this responsibility. I’m thrilled to get to work with our incredible Oversight team!”
Excited and humbled to share that this evening I was selected to serve as @RepRaskin’s #2 on the House Oversight Committee.
Thank you to my colleagues on @OversightDems for entrusting me with this responsibility. I’m thrilled to get to work with our incredible Oversight team!
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 31, 2023
Ocasio-Cortez had been angling for the position for some time already.
“There’s been conversations, but nothing’s been finalized,” she told Politico last week. “I think I’m going to have a lot of fun on this committee.”
Being a vice ranking member means that the former bartender would be able to serve as chair of the committee in Ranking Member Jamie Raskin’s (D-Md.) absence.
The Democrats see the Oversight committee as particularly important given the Republican Party’s plans to investigate the border crisis, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, COVID-19’s origins, and Biden family corruption. It almost seems counterintuitive to have AOC in such a powerful position, given how unserious of a person she is.
Nevertheless, Raskin suggested he has a lot of confidence in her.
“I have the greatest admiration for her skill, and I’m sure we’re going to be able to deploy her to maximum effect on the committee, along with all these other amazing new members,” Raskin previously said about Ocasio-Cortez in an interview.
She clearly sees her role on the committee as countering Republican efforts to hold the Biden administration accountable.
“Of course, [Republicans are] going to be calling hearings on horrible things, but our job is to protect the people and protect the vulnerable communities that they seek to attack,” she said. “It gives us an opportunity and a platform to de-legitimize a lot of the disinformation that they’ve been advancing.”
Somehow I don’t see AOC being the best messenger for the Democrats’ efforts.
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