Kentucky Representative James Comer said Thursday that he’s a “fan” of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and would look forward to a “good working relationship” if she succeeded in her bid for the House Oversight Committee chair.
The 35-year-old representative from New York announced last week that she would seek to replace Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin as the Ranking Member on the House Oversight Committee for the Democrats. Her main rival appears to be Virginia Representative Gerry Connolly, 74, who has spent the week canvassing the caucus for support.
Politico on Wednesday reported that Ocasio-Cortez has earned the support of the majority of Democrats on the panel, which has lately accumulated younger and more progressive members.
Kentucky Representative Jamie Comer, the Republican Ranking Member on the committee, told CNN on Thursday that he would welcome Ocasio-Cortez to serve as his counterpart.
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“I’m a big AOC fan,” Comer told CNN host Pamela Brown. “Obviously, I don’t agree with very much of her policy, but I think she’s a good person, I think she’s very well-spoken. I did not have good relationship with Jaime Raskin, I don’t think that’s any secret.
“I tell the press when they ask about the race for Ranking Member the Democrats have nowhere to go but up after having Jamie Raskin for the last four years, so, I think AOC would be great, Gerry Connolly would be great … but I certainly look forward to working with the next ranking member,” Comer said.
“If it’s AOC, I think we’ll have a good working relationship. We’ll obviously have a lot of differences on policy, but I think she’s a good, well-spoken person for the Democrats to serve in that position,” he added.
Newsweek reached out by email on Thursday morning to the offices of Ocasio-Cortez and Comer for additional comments.
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Raskin has set his sights on the House Judiciary Committee next year, which would position him in one of the most pivotal and influential roles to combat President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
Raskin pledged to use his new position, should he succeed, to create “the headquarters of Congressional opposition to authoritarianism” and ensure constitutional norms.
His decision to pursue this new position left open his seat as ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, one of the most powerful positions in the House of Representatives. The committee is responsible for ensuring “efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government and all its agencies.”
Ocasio-Cortez would be the youngest-ever member to serve as ranking member if she succeeded. Her main rival, Connolly, has served eight terms in the House and has positioned himself as a veteran to the more youthful Ocasio-Cortez.
In announcing her bid, Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a statement: “The responsibility of leading Democrats on the House Oversight Committee during Donald Trump’s second term in the White House is a profound and consequential one.”
“Now, more than ever, we must focus on the Committee’s strong history of both holding administrations accountable and taking on the economic precarity and inequality that is challenging the American way of life,” she added.
