WASHINGTON — Democrats on Friday shot down Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s marketing campaign for a prized seat on the Home Power and Commerce Committee — as an alternative appointing fellow New York Rep. Kathleen Rice.
The New York congresswomen had been jockeying for the seat and lobbying colleagues behind the scenes, however Rice finally received in a vote of 46-13, Politico reported Friday.
The committee oversees every little thing from public well being to local weather points, international commerce and shopper safety.
Democratic lawmakers on the Steering and Coverage Committee had been reportedly compelled into a clumsy vote Thursday when some members introduced their views on who ought to win.
Based on Politico, some Democrats cautioned towards giving the plum position to AOC, 31, as a result of she had inspired a number of liberal challengers to tackle her personal colleagues.
“I’m considering who works towards different members in primaries and who doesn’t,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) stated on the decision.
Different members on the Power and Commerce Committee reportedly fearful how Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive insurance policies, together with the Inexperienced New Deal, may trigger issues within the new Congress, the place Democrats may have a slimmer majority.
Rice, 55, a Lengthy Island Democrat and former prosecutor, stated she was honored to be chosen.
“New Yorkers deserve a fighter to decrease the price of pharmaceuticals, deal with local weather change and enhance our ingesting water,” Rice stated in a press release to Patch.
“I sit up for working with my colleagues to assist the incoming Biden-Harris Administration fight the COVID-19 pandemic and construct again our economic system.”
Rice’s appointment to the committee marks an enormous turnaround in fortunes for the lawmaker, who was denied a seat on the highly effective Home Judiciary Committee after she spoke out towards Nancy Pelosi’s speakership.
Ocasio-Cortez has not too long ago echoed Rice’s calls, telling the Intercept she believes the 80-year-old must go however has no clear successor.
