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gerry connolly
Months After Oversight Battle, Rep. Gerry Connolly Dies at 75
The lawmaker announced in late April that he was stepping down from his ranking member position on the powerful House Oversight Committee.
May 21, 2025
Three weeks after announcing he would not run for reelection and would step down from his leadership role on a powerful U.S. House committee, Rep. Gerald Connolly died Wednesday at the age of 75.
Connolly (D-Va.) announced in November just after winning his reelection campaign that he'd been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
Connolly's family stated that he "passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family."
"Gerry lived his life to give back to others and make our community better," said the Connolly family. "He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just. He was a skilled statesman on the international stage, an accomplished legislator in Congress, a visionary executive on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a fierce defender of democracy, an environmental champion, and a mentor to so many."
His death came five months after he won the role of ranking member on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also ran for the position, saying the role of the top Democratic lawmaker on the panel was a "profound and consequential one," with the ranking member empowered to subpoena members of the Trump administration should Democrats win the 2026 midterm elections.
A number of lawmakers and political observers expressed support for Ocasio-Cortez's bid, with former Obama administration staffer Dan Pfeiffer calling her "probably the best communicator in the Democratic Party right now."
Connolly signaled that he would take a reserved approach to the powerful position, suggesting in one interview that his colleagues who go "on cable television" to denounce the Trump administration were "performative"—comments that frustrated many progressives who believed Ocasio-Cortez would wage effective attacks on the Trump administration and would keep the crucial committee in the spotlight.
"He was a skilled statesman on the international stage, an accomplished legislator in Congress, a visionary executive on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a fierce defender of democracy, an environmental champion, and a mentor to so many."
But much of progressives' ire over the Oversight battle was reserved not for Connolly but for Democratic leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who reportedly made "calls" to Democratic lawmakers urging them to join her in supporting Connolly.
Political organizer Max Berger, co-founder of the Jewish-led Palestinian rights group IfNotNow and the labor-focused media organization More Perfect Union, said Wednesday that Pelosi's interference ensured the victory of a lawmaker who was in frail health "over an up-and-coming Latino woman"—as then-President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, were gearing up to dismantle federal agencies, fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers, secure financial benefits for Musk's aerospace company, and gut the social safety net in order to secure tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
"Have the past five months been an important time for congressional oversight?" Berger asked rhetorically on Bluesky. "As Trump and Musk were ransacking the federal government, congressional Democrats put a 74-year-old cancer patient in charge of providing oversight. He died within five months of taking the job. It's a form of political negligence that borders on criminal."
Amanda Litman, president of Run for Something, said Connolly "was a good guy, a good leader, and a committed public servant."
"It's so deeply sad on many levels that his final months of life were spent fighting to hold on to power," said Litman.
In the last two-and-a-half years, eight members of the U.S. House have died while in office. All have been Democrats, and three have died since Trump took office for his second term.
Both before and after his diagnosis and the Oversight fight that garnered national headlines, Connolly was a fierce defender of federal workers, including those at the U.S. Postal Service. In March he demanded a public hearing on the Trump administration's threats to privatize the USPS. He was also a fierce critic of Trump's plan to strip federal employees of job protections, and sponsored a bill that passed in the House in 2021 to block federal job reclassifications.
He sponsored the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act in 2014, which was credited with speeding up processing times for and Social Security beneficiaries and veterans needing services, strengthening cybersecurity at hospitals, and expediting federal emergency responses—"his major legislative legacy to date," Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, told The Washington Post.
"It did transform a part of the operations of the federal government in what is considered by experts to have been profoundly important," said Rozell.
Connolly also led the Democrats' successful fight during Trump's first term against the addition of a citizenship question to the U.S. Census, saying it would provoke "real and palpable" fear in many households. In a memorable CNN interview in 2019, he said he would "go to the max" to ensure the administration complied with court orders and threatened jail time for officials who resisted subpoenas.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, called Connolly "a tireless champion of effective oversight, a brilliant legislator, and a cherished presence in the House."
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AOC Won't Seek Oversight Role: 'Underlying Dynamics in the Caucus Have Not Shifted'
"I believe I'll be staying put at Energy and Commerce," the progressive congresswoman said.
May 05, 2025
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ended a week of speculation on Monday by announcing that she will not seek the ranking member position on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The New York Democrat, who last year ran for ranking member and lost to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), told reporters, "It's actually clear to me that the underlying dynamics in the caucus have not shifted with respect to seniority as much as I think would be necessary, so I believe I'll be staying put at Energy and Commerce."
Ocasio-Cortez has recently been crisscrossing the country with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his Fighting Oligarchy Tour. Nationally, the 35-year-old progressive is seen as a possible primary challenger to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and even a potential future presidential candidate.
Politico's Nicholas Wu noted last week that if Ocasio-Cortez declined to run for the committee post, "a number of young, ambitious members could mount bids, including Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Ro Khanna of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, and Robert Garcia of California."
Connolly, now 75, sought the House leadership role despite an esophageal cancer diagnosis he disclosed in November. Last Monday, he said in a letter to constituents that "I want to begin by thanking you for your good wishes and compassion as I continue to tackle my diagnosis. Your outpouring of love and support has given me strength in my fights—both against cancer and in our collective defense of democracy."
"When I announced my diagnosis six months ago, I promised transparency," Connolly continued. "After grueling treatments, we've learned that the cancer, while initially beaten back, has now returned. I'll do everything possible to continue to represent you and thank you for your grace."
"The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress," he added. "I will be stepping back as ranking member of the Oversight Committee soon. With no rancor and a full heart, I move into this final chapter full of pride in what we've accomplished together over 30 years. My loving family and staff sustain me. My extended family—you all have been a joy to serve."
The panel's far-right chair, James Comer (R-Ky.), said in response to last week's announcement that "I'm saddened to hear that Ranking Member Connolly's cancer has returned. He is a steadfast public servant who has spent his career serving Northern Virginians with honor and integrity. It's an honor to serve the American people alongside him and I am rooting for him as he battles cancer once again. Our prayers are with Ranking Member Connolly and his family."
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Trump Advances Plan to Fill Federal Government With 'Political Cronies'
"Anyone who cares about our national security, or receives Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid... has a vested interest in protecting our merit-based federal workforce."
Apr 19, 2025
The largest federal labor union in the U.S. said Friday that tens of thousands of federal workers could soon "have their jobs politicized" and be swiftly fired under a new rule proposed by the Office of Personnel Management.
Under the rule, an estimated 50,000 career civil servants would be reclassified as "at-will" employees, removing civil service protections and making it easier for the federal government to dismiss them.
President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally, tech mogul Elon Musk, have long claimed the federal workforce is rife with "rogue bureaucrats" and is part of the "deep state," pledging to dismantle the civil service.
Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that reclassifying workers "will allow the federal government to finally be 'run like a business.'"
"If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the president, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job," he said.
"President Trump's action to politicize the work of tens of thousands of career federal employees will erode the government's merit-based hiring system and undermine the professional civil service that Americans rely on."
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said Friday's announcement was the latest "in a series of deliberate moves by this administration to corrupt the federal government and replace qualified public servants with political cronies."
"President Trump's action to politicize the work of tens of thousands of career federal employees will erode the government's merit-based hiring system and undermine the professional civil service that Americans rely on," said Kelley. "Politicizing the career civil service is a threat to our democracy and to the integrity of all the programs and services Americans rely on."
The new category for civil servants was originally called Schedule F, but the White House said it was changing the classification to "Schedule Policy/Career."
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. Gerry Connolly, all Democrats from Virginia whose constituents include many federal employees, said Saturday that Trump's proposal to "hire and fire these workers based on their politics, not their qualifications... makes us all less safe."
The lawmakers have all backed legislation to protect the federal civil service from being reclassified outside of merit system principles without the approval of Congress, and issued a warning to congressional Republicans who have heard from angry constituents in recent weeks about the administration's spending cuts through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
"Anyone who cares about our national security, or receives Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other critical service administered by the federal government, has a vested interest in protecting our merit-based federal workforce," said the lawmakers. "We have long fought for legislation to protect the federal workforce from this kind of attack. To our colleagues who will hear from their constituents if government services continue to decline because of this decision: You were warned."
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