Rep. Jasmine Crockett said she would “rethink” whether to pursue a bid for the top Democratic job on the House Oversight Committee after a more senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Kweisi Mfume, said he might seek the post.
“I always wanted to make sure that the Black Caucus is as strong as possible. And so it does make me rethink whether to pursue this because in this moment, I don’t think that Black people, specifically the Black Caucus, can afford to be divided,” she said in a brief interview. “It does make me have to think long and hard, and I respect Mfume a great deal. It’s a bit heartbreaking.”
Mfume, a 76-year-old Maryland Democrat, chaired the CBC during his first stint in Congress in the mid-1990s before leaving to lead the NAACP. That history could help him pick up support from the caucus, whose members comprise a sizable portion of House Democrats’ influential Steering and Policy Committee that first evaluates candidates for committee leadership posts, making recommendations to the full caucus.
“In terms of civil rights organizations, which I can equate in some ways with the CBC, [Mfume] has all the experience in the world,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). “If he runs, obviously he’s going to have some support.”
The CBC has historically been a fervent guardian of the seniority system and a fierce opponent of moving toward term limits for committee heads, arguing that those practices have amplified Black members’ power in the House.
Members have been maneuvering for the high-profile post since Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the sitting top Oversight Democrat, announced last week he would not seek reelection and step aside from his leadership role citing a cancer fight. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said this week she would forgo a bid for the position, citing the emphasis on seniority within the Democratic caucus.
Crockett, 44, said she was concerned about that dynamic and said Democrats might be stifling younger talent out of deference to more senior members.
“Barack [Obama] was 47 when he was elected [president], and so I think potentially, if this is kind of the way that this environment will go, I don’t know how we are able to grow some of our leaders to potentially even get to the presidential level, because we won’t give 44-year-olds a chance,” she said. “But I’m not counting anything out, but I do think that my path is a lot more complicated.”
Two other Democrats have also made moves to enter the race: Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, who is serving as interim head of the Oversight Democrats, and Rep. Robert Garcia of California. Lynch is 70; Garcia is 47.
