WASHINGTON — Democrats on Friday shot down Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for a prized seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee — instead appointing fellow New York Rep. Kathleen Rice.
The New York congresswomen had been jockeying for the seat and lobbying colleagues behind the scenes, but Rice ultimately won in a vote of 46-13, Politico reported Friday.
The committee oversees everything from public health to climate issues, foreign commerce and consumer protection.
Democratic lawmakers on the Steering and Policy Committee were reportedly forced into an awkward vote Thursday when some members presented their views on who should win.
According to Politico, some Democrats cautioned against giving the plum role to AOC, 31, because she had encouraged several liberal challengers to take on her own colleagues.
“I’m taking into account who works against other members in primaries and who doesn’t,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said on the call.
Other members on the Energy and Commerce Committee reportedly worried how Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive policies, including the Green New Deal, could cause problems in the new Congress, where Democrats will have a slimmer majority.
Rice, 55, a Long Island Democrat and former prosecutor, said she was honored to be selected.
“New Yorkers deserve a fighter to lower the cost of prescription drugs, address climate change and improve our drinking water,” Rice said in a statement to Patch.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues to help the incoming Biden-Harris Administration combat the COVID-19 pandemic and build back our economy.”
Rice’s appointment to the committee marks a huge turnaround in fortunes for the lawmaker, who was denied a seat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee after she spoke out against Nancy Pelosi’s speakership.
Ocasio-Cortez has recently echoed Rice’s calls, telling the Intercept she believes the 80-year-old needs to go but has no clear successor.