Congress
How a potential panel shakeup will test Ocasio-Cortez’s influence
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could face the biggest test of her influence yet if a coveted spot as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee opens up.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who currently holds the job, is running against Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) for the top Democratic spot on the Judiciary Committee. If Raskin successfully ousts Nadler, that will kick off a scramble to replace him.
Although Democrats are reluctant to publicly discuss an Oversight bid before the Judiciary challenges are settled, lawmakers are privately making calls to test the waters, quietly jockeying behind the scenes. In addition to Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), possible contenders for the top spot include Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
It’s the latest example that will test how far House Democrats are willing to go in shaking up their seniority-dominated conference. Several lawmakers are already openly challenging senior Democrats for the gavels on key panels.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said Monday he would end his bid for reelection as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, potentially clearing the way for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who’d been challenging Grijalva, though Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) has also signaled interest. And atop the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who’s faced questions about his health and his ability to lead the panel’s Democrats, is facing strong challenges from Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.).
But the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez is a different case. She’s not just significantly younger than those other contenders, she’s also frequently challenged the party’s status quo writ large. She was often at odds with the previous generation of House leaders and, along with other members of the progressive “Squad,” has used her powerful microphone to, at times, express skepticism of Democratic leadership.
It’s unclear if she could be swept in with a wave of generational change or could face turbulence in the Steering and Policy Committee, a leadership-appointed panel that decides most committee positions. The committee is expected to start considering the contested ranking member slots next week and will make recommendations to the full caucus after holding secret-ballot votes.
If Ocasio-Cortez mounts a bid and wins her caucus’ support, it could amount to the ultimate inside power play for the outspoken progressive, who first came to office by primarying a powerful committee chair in 2018. A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez didn’t respond to a request for comment.
It would come less than two years after Raskin and Oversight Committee Democrats gave her the vice ranking member position, a move that gave her a high-profile perch amid concerns that Raskin could be absent during his cancer treatments at the time.
Ocasio-Cortez is also close with Raskin, first serving as his vice ranking member on a previous Oversight subpanel overseeing civil rights issues. She’s also helped mentor younger committee members and gone viral for high-profile tangles with Republicans on the panel, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.
The House Oversight Committee requested that Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who once represented Jeffery Epstein, testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files.
The interview is tentatively slated for 10 a.m. on July 9, with a video and transcript of the testimony being released “as expeditiously as practical,” Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote in a letter to Dershowitz on Friday.
“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” Comer wrote.
Comer told reporters on Wednesday that he wanted to hear from Dershowitz, who helped Epstein secure a controversial plea deal in his 2008 sex abuse case.
“I’m looking forward to testifying,” Dershowitz wrote in a text message to Blue Light News on Friday, adding that he is “trying to adjust my schedule” for July 9.
Sen. John Cornyn isn’t a card-carrying member of the Senate GOP’s growing YOLO caucus. But with less than seven months left in office after losing his primary, the Texas Republican appears to be feeling newly free to speak his mind.
The latest clap-back came Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning, when Cornyn called a conservative influencer a “grifter” and told Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on social media to stop publicly blaming fellow Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune — for the fact that the GOP elections bill doesn’t have support to pass inside the party.
“You don’t have the votes” for the SAVE America Act, Cornyn posted on X. “@LeaderJohnThune can’t change that. It is math.”
He was directing his comments at Lee, who had just penned a post telling Thune, “let’s do this!”
Cornyn continued, “Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November.”
Lee responded to ask, “on what planet is this an attack on Republicans?” and appeared to suggest a staffer was tweeting on Cornyn’s behalf: “Once my friend John Cornyn realizes that you’re saying this in his name—whoever you are—I don’t think he’ll be happy with you.”
Cornyn, however, is known for posting himself on his social media accounts in a chamber where many Senate accounts are run solely by staff. And he’s been making it clear all week that he will push back on Trump and his party when he thinks it’s needed.
In multiple conversations with reporters in the Capitol, Cornyn said that Republicans need to “stop the circular firing squad.” And he added that he won’t intentionally be “a thorn in [Trump’s] side,” but he’s also “not going to go out of my way to try to appease him.”
“I want him to succeed, I want the Republican Party to succeed, I want the country to succeed,” Cornyn said this week. “But on a case-by-case basis, when I think there’s been overreach or just a bad idea, I’m not going to hesitate to weigh in.”
The four-term senator’s comments come after he lost his primary last month to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed in the final days of the runoff.
Cornyn said in an interview with The New York Times that he was not a “wounded bear” but that he believed Trump’s insistence on “slavish adherence” was going to backfire for Republicans in the midterms and result in “the most miserable two years of his life” if Democrats flip the House or Senate.
“I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,” Cornyn said.
Chuck Schumer wants Congress to pass AI legislation. But he’s casting doubt on it happening this year.
“In this Congress, it’s hard,” the Senate minority leader said in an interview Thursday.
Schumer’s reality check isn’t a complete door-slam. But it underscores the steep climb lawmakers face to bridge a slew of intra-party and inter-chamber divides about what Washington’s approach should be toward the emerging opportunities and risks from the rapidly developing technology.
The problems are multi-pronged.
The White House, whose posture toward AI has shifted dramatically in recent weeks, is angling to enact legislation that would preempt state laws in favor of a national standard. Most recently, administration officials have been exploring a plan to attach preemption legislation to bills designed to shore up kids’ safety online. But there are issues — House Republicans aren’t in love with the Senate GOP’s kid safety bills and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that many senators have concerns “about not trampling states’ rights in the process.”
Democrats aren’t unified on what to do next, with the public broadly skeptical about AI.
Some House and Senate Democrats are leery of state preemption and want to wait until next year to tackle AI, when they might be in power. Opposition from key Democrats is a major factor derailing an attempt by Reps. Lori Trahan and Jay Obernolte to strike a deal on legislation that would set nationwide safety and transparency rules while restricting state action. And Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a moratorium on AI data centers pending stricter government oversight.
Schumer is striking a balanced tone on how to proceed, arguing that there are “tremendous benefits” from AI but that “we also have to have guardrails.”
“We should get something done on AI, and it’s … got to be balanced — keep innovation strong, but have guardrails to prevent the dangers,” he said. “That’s a hard needle to thread, but I would very much like to see that get done the sooner the better.”
What else we’re watching:
— FISA LAPSE, CLAYTON NOMINATION: Thune is vowing to move “fairly quickly” to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, with the FISA Section 702 spy authority set to lapse at midnight thanks to a stalemate between Democrats and the White House over the position.
— GOP ADVANCES BIG DEFENSE BOOST — Republicans have taken the first steps toward granting President Donald Trump’s request for the largest budget ever for the Pentagon. Senate Armed Services members on Thursday approved a draft of their annual defense authorization bill outlining priorities for $1.14 trillion in defense spending next year. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee advanced $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2027 funding for the Defense Department in a closed-door markup.
Calen Razor and Connor O’Brien contributed reporting.
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