A former aide to Rep. Gerry Connolly has quickly jumped into the race to replace the longtime member of Congress from Northern Virginia — with the blessing of his former boss.

James Walkinshaw, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors who served as Connolly’s chief of staff for more than a decade, cast himself as a fierce opponent of President Donald Trump’s agenda as he announced his candidacy Tuesday for the seat in the heavily Democratic suburb of Washington.

He comes with an endorsement from the retiring member of Congress, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, according to an open letter that was expected to be released Wednesday. It may be influential: Connolly defeated his Republican opponent by over 33 points in 2024.

“James brings unmatched experience, a depth of knowledge about federal issues, and a steadfast commitment to progressive values,” according to the letter, which was obtained in advance by Blue Light News. “When I took office in 2009, appointing him Chief of Staff was one of the best decisions I made.”

Walkinshaw, in a campaign announcement on social media, embraced Connolly’s liberal positions, including opposition to the NRA and support for abortion rights, while casting himself as an aggressive opponent of President Donald Trump sought by many activist Democrats.

“Trump is counting on us to be too scared or too complacent to fight back,” Walkinshaw said. “But I’m not backing down. Fairfax is my home, my family’s home. And I’ve been fighting for it my entire career.”

Connolly announced he would not run for reelection in late April due to the return of his esophageal cancer. In a statement, he also said he planned to step down soon from his leadership post on the oversight committee.

The announcement touched off jockeying among House Democrats looking to fill his spot on the panel. Rep. Stephen Lynch said he would pursue the post with Connolly’s backing last week. Blue Light News reported Tuesday that California Rep. Robert Garcia has been making quiet moves towards a run. Also interested is Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defeated in a challenge against Connolly for the post last year, has ruled out a move this time.

Key Republican moderates said Tuesday they had grown more comfortable with a revised House GOP effort to overhaul Medicaid following an evening meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson and other leaders.

Johnson needs to find near-unanimity among House Republicans as he finalizes the GOP megabill central to President Donald Trump’s agenda, and several of the centrists emerged from the closed-door huddle sounding closer to yes. The plan is centered around work requirements for beneficiaries, more frequent eligibility checks in the program and cracking down on coverage for noncitizens, they said.

Meanwhile, some controversial changes the moderates had blanched at appear to be omitted from the latest plan: cutting the federal share of funding for states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and capping federal payments to those expansion states.

Asked if Republicans were pursuing changes to the federal cost share, known as FMAPs, Johnson replied: “No.”

Asked about “per capita caps” on Medicaid funding, he added, “I think we’re ruling that out as well, but stay tuned.”

Republicans discussed the caps proposal at length in the room, according to members in attendance. There was “lots of opposition” to applying the caps for expansion states, according to one attendee granted anonymity to describe the private meeting.

The retreat from the most ambitious cost-cutting proposals risks inciting House GOP hard-liners. One leader of that group, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, said on X that caps were “necessary to stop robbing from the vulnerable to fund the able-bodied.”

Republicans have debated for months how to handle states that have expanded Medicaid to people with higher incomes, though still near the poverty line, under the Affordable Care Act. Several states have so-called trigger laws that would end or pull back on the expansion program if the federal government reduces their role, and many lawmakers are leery invoking those provisions.

Even beyond the moderates, conservative Republicans across Virginia and other expansion states have warned GOP leaders not to pursue deeper spending cuts that would throw hundreds of thousands of Americans off Medicaid rolls. Republicans are now parsing what the fallout would be in their individual states over some per capita cap changes.

“I have to see in Arizona if the per capita cap impacts the trigger laws. I don’t think I’m 100 percent clear on that,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) told reporters. “That would be a deal-breaker for me if it does trigger it, obviously.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said he remains opposed to both controversial proposals: “I don’t support any change to FMAP. I don’t support per capita caps.”

“We’re coming up with options, we’re discussing them, hashing through them, debating them,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.). “They’ll come back with a revision.” Malliotakis left the door open to capping the federal government’s payments for certain beneficiaries in states that have expanded Medicaid.

“States need to have some skin in the game,” she said.

Members said a policy the Trump administration has pushed as an alternative to the steep Medicaid cuts — linking what the program pays for drugs to the lower prices paid abroad — wasn’t a focus.

Several other Republicans said the meeting was more productive than previous conversations around Medicaid changes.

“I feel better about it,” said one vulnerable House Republican who was in the room.

“I think he’s got something that’s workable,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said, adding, “there’s a few wrinkles that need to be worked out, but I think he’s on … a good path.”

Some members said they want to know more about what Trump thinks.

“We have to make sure that we know where the president is on this and also where the Senate is,” Ciscomani said. “We can’t be just unilaterally moving this without knowing where they’re going to be and then have some surprises there at the end.”

Rep. Robert Garcia is starting to make quiet moves towards a bid to lead Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, according to five people granted anonymity to discuss his behind-the-scenes maneuvers.

The Californian has started to round up support from other Democrats who are encouraging him to run and is testing the waters by making calls to other colleagues, the people said.

Both privately and publicly, Garcia is showing deference to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who announced last week he will step aside as top Oversight Democrat due to a battle with cancer.

“Right now there’s like no election, and so I think those of us on the Oversight Committee are just focused on Gerry’s health,” Garcia told reporters Tuesday. “We just wish him the very best.”

Still, many Democrats are eyeing the high-profile post after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Monday she would forgo a bid. That decision is likely to open up the field for a host of other ambitious young Democrats — including Garcia, 47.

Connolly has yet to formally step aside, so no election has been scheduled. He designated Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts as the interim top Democrat; Lynch said last week he intends to seek the job permanently.

Any contest is expected to be hotly contested, and lawmakers have made preliminary moves to lock down support. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) has already started to privately maneuver for the job, and Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) could also be in the mix. Frost and Garcia are close, and some Democrats believe the two would not run against each other.

“At this point I feel like half the committee is wanting to run for the seat,” said Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who served on the Oversight panel last Congress. She stood up in House Democrats’ closed-door caucus meeting Monday to say “we need to be utilizing all of our talent in the caucus” by elevating younger lawmakers, she said.

Another Democrat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss caucus dynamics, said he was “really excited” to support Garcia should he choose to run. That Democrat said he had supported Connolly for the Oversight position last year.

Garcia currently serves in Democratic leadership, holding a position reserved for lawmakers who have served fewer than five terms in Congress. Should he mount an Oversight run, he could draw the backing of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Only one CHC member, Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York, holds a committee leadership position.

Should Democrats take control of the House in the 2026 midterms, the Oversight chair would have broad jurisdiction to investigate the Trump administration and a central role in the party’s accountability efforts over the executive branch. For now, the ranking member is a key foil to Oversight Republicans’ continued efforts to investigate former President Joe Biden’s administration.