众议院民主党资深众议员格里·康诺利(Gerry Connolly)周二击退了进步众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯(Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)的挑战，这位弗吉尼亚州民主党人有望成为众议院监督委员会在新国会中排名第一的民主党人。
康诺利自2009年以来一直在监督委员会任职，自2013年以来一直领导民主党人参加政府运作小组委员会。11月7日，他宣布自己被诊断患有食道癌，这为奥卡西奥-科尔特斯的挑战打开了大门。
尽管面临这些健康挑战，但根据多个民主党消息来源的说法，康诺利以131比84的投票结果获胜，巩固了他在华盛顿最受瞩目的职位之一的地位，以对抗即将上任的特朗普政府和国会中统一的共和党多数派。
奥卡西奥-科尔特斯自2019年第一个任期以来一直在监督委员会任职，当时她作为所谓团队的领导人在国会山掀起了风暴。尽管今天失败了，她仍然准备在第119届国会的小组中扮演一个突出的角色。
康诺利表示，他已经准备好与特朗普政府较量。
康诺利说:“他(特朗普)可能会觉得更有底气，但这也可能会让他更加鲁莽。”“这片土地上有法律，我们将确保它得到执行。”
“我们的策略将是说出真相，如果这会造成伤害，那么我们知道我们已经做出了贡献，”他说。
康诺利说，他能够击败AOC是因为，“我认为我的同事们通过谁有经验、谁经验丰富、谁可以信任、谁有能力、谁有生产记录来衡量他们的投票。我认为这占了上风。”
康诺利周一晚上赢得了众议院民主党指导委员会的初步建议，以34-27的票数在下届国会中领导民主党人反对AOC。
奥卡西奥-科尔特斯无视这一建议，要求全体会议对比赛进行投票。
在副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯输给当选总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)之后，民主党人正在经历选举后的清算，这一时期的自我反省明显削弱了众议院民主党人在委员会任命方面对资历的传统尊重。
到目前为止，民主党人已经选择了更年轻、资历更浅的民主党人来担任司法、农业和自然资源委员会的最高党员，这些举动相当于对国会山的重大调整。
此举正值民主党准备明年与特朗普政府开战之际，议员们希望更年轻、更有活力的声音能够更好地将党的信息带入预计将是高调的政策斗争，即使民主党仍是少数。
然而，当谈到监督委员会时，民主党人似乎仍然优先考虑康诺利的地位，尽管他的健康问题超过奥卡西奥-科尔特斯，一个进步和有效的沟通者，但他已经成为全国共和党人的一个突出的恶魔。
总体而言，民主党已经选择了五名女性担任下届国会委员会的高级成员，还有几名有色人种，而共和党没有选择任何女性。
Ocasio-Cortez loses bid to be top Democrat on House Oversight Committee
House Democratic veteran Rep. Gerry Connolly fended off a challenge from progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday, putting the Virginia Democrat in line to become the House Oversight Committee’s top-ranked Democrat in the new Congress.
Connolly has served on the Oversight Committee since 2009 and has led Democrats on the subcommittee on government operations since 2013. He announced on Nov. 7 that he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer, opening the door for a challenge from Ocasio-Cortez.
Despite those health challenges, Connolly won by a vote of 131-84, according to multiple Democratic sources -- cementing his role in one of the most high-profile positions in Washington to combat the incoming Trump administration and a unified Republican majority in Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez has served on the Oversight Committee since her first term in 2019 when she took Capitol Hill by storm as a leader of the so-called Squad. Despite the defeat today, she is still poised to take on a prominent role on the panel in the 119th Congress.
Connolly said he is ready to take on the Trump administration.
“He [Trump] may feel more emboldened, but that may also make him more reckless," Connolly said. "There is a law on this land and we're going to make sure it's enforced.”
“Our strategy is going to be to tell the truth and if that hurts then we know we’ve made our mark,” he said.
Connolly said he was able to defeat AOC because, “I think my colleagues were measuring their votes by who's got experience, who's seasoned, who can be trusted, who's capable on it, who's got a record of productivity. And I think that prevailed.”
Connolly won an initial recommendation Monday evening from the House Democratic Steering Committee to lead Democrats on the panel in the next Congress over AOC by a vote count of 34-27.
In defiance of that recommendation, Ocasio-Cortez asked the full caucus to vote on the contest.
The results come as Democrats undergo a post-election reckoning following Vice President Kamala Harris' loss to President-elect Donald Trump -- a period of soul-searching that has put a noticeable dent in House Democrats' traditional deference to seniority for committee assignments.
Democrats so far have already opted for younger, more junior Democrats to jump the line to serve as the top party member of the Judiciary, Agriculture and Natural Resources committees, moves that amounted to significant shakeups on Capitol Hill.
The maneuvering comes as Democrats prepare for battle with the Trump administration next year, with members hopeful that younger, more energetic voices would be able to better carry the party message into what are expected to be high-profile policy fights, even if Democrats are stuck in the minority.
However, when it came to the Oversight Committee, Democrats appeared to still prioritize Connolly's standing despite his health issues over Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive and effective communicator but someone who has emerged as a prominent boogeyman for national Republicans.
Overall, Democrats have selected five women to be ranking members on committees in the next Congress, along with several people of color, while Republicans have tapped zero women.
