{"id":23809,"date":"2026-06-08T08:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T08:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/what-does-josh-gottheimer-want-now\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T08:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T08:47:22","slug":"what-does-josh-gottheimer-want-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/what-does-josh-gottheimer-want-now\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Josh Gottheimer want now?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Josh Gottheimer didn\u2019t raise tens of millions of dollars, carefully cultivate home-state political allies and spend more than a decade burnishing a bipartisan \u201cproblem solver\u201d reputation to be sending out news releases about his choices for the annual congressional student art competition.<\/p>\n

Yet that\u2019s where the 51-year-old New Jersey Democrat finds himself, 166th in House seniority and suddenly plotting his next act in politics.<\/p>\n

Losing last year\u2019s Democratic primary for governor was just the start of it. He\u2019s also no longer atop the high-profile caucus of centrist lawmakers he co-founded, and his brand of pro-business, pro-Israel politics is decidedly on the outs inside his own party.<\/p>\n

And yet: Gottheimer is showing no sign of letting go of his political career \u2014 or his relevance on Capitol Hill \u2014 anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Since losing the gubernatorial nomination to former colleague Mikie Sherrill, he has thrown himself into crash bipartisan efforts to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits<\/a>, end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and limit the Trump administration\u2019s authority in Iran.<\/p>\n

He is leading a coalition to shape House Democrats\u2019 stance on artificial intelligence policy<\/a>, meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last week. He has positioned himself as a leading voice in the caucus against antisemitism and against the party\u2019s leftward turn \u2014 leading a recent media crusade<\/a> against progressive influencer Hasan Piker, for instance. He\u2019s also known to have the ear of Minority Leader \u2014 and potential speaker \u2014 Hakeem Jeffries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you’ve tried to move out of the House and then come back to it, sometimes I think the best path forward is to say, \u2018This is where I’m a good fit, and I need to be a leader here, and I can have a long career here,\u2019\u201d said former White House chief of staff John Podesta, a friend of Gottheimer\u2019s dating back to their days together in President Bill Clinton\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Longtime observers of his ladder-climbing ways \u2014 including many of his House colleagues \u2014 may have a hard time buying it, but Gottheimer insisted in a series of interviews he\u2019s interested in making the most of the perch he has.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m very concerned with parts of the direction of the party, and to make sure that we keep the party from going off a cliff \u2014 I take that part seriously,\u201d he said. \u201cI know my colleagues won’t agree with me on everything, and I’m seen as one of the more centrist, commonsense members. I think it’s a very important part of the party to hold on to and to make sure we don’t get captured by Democratic socialists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gottheimer does not have a high-level leadership position from which to espouse that view. But he has never lacked for a platform, and he said he\u2019s ready to play Whac-A-Mole to beat back forces who would pull the party hard left.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho the hell knows?\u201d he said of what, or who, he might push back on next. \u201cThese things just pop up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know that I can have a lot of influence in making sure that we legislate the right way,\u201d he added, \u201cand stopping things from going the wrong way.\u201d<\/p>\n

For evidence of Gottheimer\u2019s political savvy, look no further than the fact that in a year where scores of old-school, dealmaking Democrats are facing progressive primary challenges, he ran unopposed for renomination and is set to easily win a sixth term representing New Jersey\u2019s affluent northern tip.<\/p>\n

Likely intimidating potential challengers is Gottheimer\u2019s massive campaign war chest<\/a>: He has over $11 million in his coffers, even after spending $9 million on his run for governor<\/a>. But he also knows what animates his constituents, many of whom have direct or indirect ties to the financial industry or are otherwise pro-business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more progressive voices in our district are not always enchanted with Josh,\u201d Loretta Weinberg, a former majority leader of the New Jersey Senate who lives in Gottheimer\u2019s district, said in an interview. \u201cBut the mainstream Democrats here, I think, are pretty satisfied with his representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gottheimer\u2019s ability to keep his ear to the ground and make unlikely allies has also served him well on Capitol Hill. He\u2019s part of an increasing rare breed of Democrats who maintains serious friendships and working relationships across the aisle.<\/p>\n

Those include Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who served six years in the House with Gottheimer and whose families have grown close enough that their teenage daughters are co-authoring a book together about bipartisanship.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh and I might not agree on every issue, but he\u2019s a friend,\u201d Mullin said during his confirmation hearing, at which Gottheimer sat in the front row.<\/p>\n

\"Gottheimer,<\/p>\n

And while progressives have often bristled at Gottheimer\u2019s unapologetic moderation and abrasive style, key leaders on the left give him credit for being an honest and accessible sparring partner.<\/p>\n

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, publicly confronted<\/a> Gottheimer in 2023 during a closed-door meeting where Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel was discussed. But Casar struck a more diplomatic tone in an interview, noting Gottheimer attended a recent CPC meeting to update members on the AI commission\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh and I have our differences, but we have a good rapport,\u201d Casar said.<\/p>\n

Gottheimer\u2019s most important alliance, however, is with Jeffries \u2014 one that has its origin in their work together to advance the 2018 First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill led by Jeffries that passed with bipartisan support. The pair later teamed up on a controversial PAC aimed at defending incumbent Democrats from left-wing primary challengers; they both also maintain friendly ties with AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby group that is increasingly toxic to Democratic voters.<\/p>\n

Jeffries described Gottheimer as a \u201cfriend\u201d in an interview, said the two speak \u201cregularly\u201d and predicted he would remain a leading voice on AI matters in a Democratic majority. Jeffries has also appointed him to a coveted spot on the House Intelligence Committee, and his GOP relationships could come in handy should Democrats win the majority and Jeffries seizes the speaker\u2019s gavel.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh is a get-stuff-done force of nature who can strongly agree to disagree with a whole host of folks, while still maintaining an excellent interpersonal relationship,\u201d Jeffries said. \u201cThat’s a very valuable trait to have in an institution like the House.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"House<\/p>\n

Gottheimer\u2019s relationship to his longtime power center \u2014 the Problem Solvers Caucus, which he launched in 2017 with then-Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) \u2014 is more complicated. The group helped nudge along bipartisan bills in the Trump and Biden administration \u2014 notably delivering the decisive votes<\/a> on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill \u2014 but has since been racked with internal tensions.<\/p>\n

A particularly explosive moment came during the 2023 GOP fight over the speaker\u2019s gavel. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), the Problem Solvers co-chair, wanted Democrats to join most Republicans and save Kevin McCarthy<\/a> from being ousted. They did not, and Fitzpatrick fumed over the split.<\/p>\n

More recently, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) quit as a vice chair of the group after Democrats abandoned her bill<\/a> to advance the Smithsonian National Women\u2019s History Museum when anti-transgender language and other controversial provisions were attached.<\/p>\n

She said she personally gets along well with Gottheimer and other caucus members, but that \u201cwhen we need their vote, they’re nowhere to be found.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gottheimer insists that the \u201cgang is back together\u201d now and there \u201cis still a need\u201d for the caucus to broker deals in the House, even as redistricting threatens its core set of bipartisan dealmakers. New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, the current Democratic co-chair, said he expected Gottheimer to be an \u201cinfluential\u201d voice in the group on issues such as affordability, AI and antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that I’m focused on getting things done, and I think that Josh is really focused on getting things done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That kind of verbiage is common inside the Problem Solvers group, and especially with Gottheimer, who sat in his office recently and expounded on his pragmatic post-gubernatorial-campaign approach to the House.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, for now, I just want to be positioned to get shit done and to be helpful that way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Gottheimer<\/p>\n

\u201cGet shit done\u201d also happens to be the trademark of another early-50s Democratic politician<\/a> with a remarkably similar background: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro shares Jewish heritage and a moderate ideological bent with Gottheimer in addition to a first name.<\/p>\n

With Shapiro occupying top-tier status in the developing 2028 Democratic presidential race, there\u2019s speculation that Gottheimer could find a new outlet for his considerable ambitions somewhere in the executive branch. Podesta said he has a \u201ccombination of skills\u201d that would make him valuable to any Democratic administration.<\/p>\n

But Gottheimer insisted in an interview his focus is squarely on the House \u2014 where he sees himself as uniquely positioned as a bulwark against the party\u2019s leftward impulses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I would have been a governor who got shit done, and my name would be Josh,\u201d he said on the Shapiro comparison. \u201cListen, I think that I learned a lot from that race, and I’m taking what I learned that race and putting it to work right now. \u2026 I came back really refocused and re-energized in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh Gottheimer didn\u2019t raise tens of millions of dollars, carefully cultivate home-state political allies and spend more than a decade burnishing a bipartisan \u201cproblem solver\u201d reputation to be sending out news releases about his choices for the annual congressional student art competition. Yet that\u2019s where the 51-year-old New Jersey Democrat finds himself, 166th in House […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}