WASHINGTON — After losing the White House and Senate in November, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) says the Democratic Party needs a facelift. And she’s volunteering for the role as she challenges a senior party member for the top Democratic slot on the House Oversight Committee.
“We should be going after corporations. We need to be going after corruption,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told Raw Story while walking through the U.S. Capitol. “Also, of course, there’s an incoming Trump administration that’s been bought out the wazoo, so we have to highlight that.”
With Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) slated to become the top Democrat — or ranking member — on the Judiciary Committee, Ocasio-Cortez is jockeying to take over as the ranking member on the high-profile Oversight Committee.
The three-term, 35-year-old congresswoman is running against eight-term, 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) for the new role. While she’s reportedly locked in the support of most of her colleagues, she also needs to overcome a last-minute, behind-the-scenes lobbying blitz from former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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The contest is representative of the broader debate engulfing Democrats as the party reckons with losing to former President Donald Trump once again. However, Ocasio-Cortez says the debate is about more than age and representation. She says Democrats need to show workers they’re on their side by aggressively going after corporations.
Many Democrats' campaigns this cycle lacked that anti-corporate message, which Ocasio-Cortez says was a mistake.
“I think so, and I think that we shouldn't be afraid to lean into the sources of a lot of people's economic pain, and we need to be forthright,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We need to be forward and assertive about the fact that inflation doesn't come from anywhere, it's corporations that are trying to squeeze Americans for every dime that they've got in their pockets.”
With Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk out there promoting the new, non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE — along with the handful of other billionaires Trump tapped to fill out his cabinet — from former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Linda McMahon at the Department of Education to investment banker Howard Lutnick at the Commerce Department — critics fear the foxes are in the hen house.
“How worried are you seeing the billionaire class becoming a part of the incoming Trump administration cabinet, basically?” Raw Story asked.
“Of course, very, very. And what we’re seeing at the Los Angeles Times and the takeover of media, it's extremely concerning,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think that there are areas where they do intersect.”
However, Congress is a majoritarian institution, and the minority party on Capitol Hill has limited formal tools. Still, Ocasio-Cortez is unfazed,
The Bronx representative rose to prominence by taking on the Washington establishment through grassroots organizing. She says her party needs to use unconventional tools—from TikTok to Telegram—to beat the GOP in the two parties' daily headline war, whether on new media or in legacy news outlets.
“Yeah, it is, but I think we've demonstrated this term, even being in the minority, we've been able to thoroughly dismantle a lot of the Republican initiative and really take the wind out of their sails and build new momentum,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
While Republicans will wield the gavels in the new year after Trump carried the party to victory in November, Ocasio-Cortez feels empowered. Whether as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee or in her unofficial role as the voice of the party’s restive progressive rank, she’s itching for a fight with her GOP counterparts.
“A lot of it has to do with using our bully pulpit to ring the alarm and let the American people know what's going on,” Ocasio-Cortez told Raw Story. “I feel like we have so much leverage where we can do that much more thoroughly and much more expansively.”
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