Latest news with #GeraldConnolly
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Garcia Joins Generational Fight Among House Democrats
Representative Robert Garcia of California told his colleagues on Thursday that he was running to become the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, intensifying a generational battle over a critical post at a time when younger members are agitating for more power. Mr. Garcia, 47, is not the only young lawmaker seeking the position, a prominent role that has been vacant since Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia died last week at the age of 75. Mr. Connolly stepped back from it last month as his cancer progressed. Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas, 44, who is the No. 2 Democrat on the committee, said on MSNBC earlier this week that she planned to seek the top post. She and Mr. Garcia will vie for the job against two more senior members: Representatives Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, 70, who had assumed Mr. Connolly's duties since he stepped aside; and Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, 76, who told colleagues in text messages in May that he wanted the position. Democrats plan to hold an internal election for the position on June 24. The contest is unfolding as the party reappraises its identity following painful electoral losses in November, including whether it is time for its older members to relinquish power to a younger generation. A book released this month has revived conversations over whether Democrats were too quick to shut down skepticism about former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s age and mental acuity as he ran for re-election. David Hogg, 25, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, faced an internal firestorm after he announced he'd support an effort to oust older incumbents in favor of younger progressives. The ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee is one of the party's most visible opponents to Republicans and the Trump administration. The position has seen remarkable turnover; Mr. Connolly was the fourth person to hold it in six years, none of them younger than 60 years old. That is in keeping with Democrats' traditional approach to awarding powerful posts in Congress, where such decisions for decades were made almost entirely by seniority. Mr. Connolly's selection for the job last year appeared to be a rebuke to younger progressives who had argued the party needed fresh voices to lead their ranks on the panel during the second Trump administration. The Virginia Democrat, who was elected to the House in 2008, defeated Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the millennial media phenom who is one of the most visible and popular members of her party. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 35, subsequently left the Oversight Committee and said earlier this month that she would not pursue the post again, in part because of Democrats' emphasis on seniority. In the letter that Mr. Garcia sent to members formally announcing his bid, the second-term lawmaker tried to position himself as a bridge between more experienced members and the younger generation. Focusing on his time as mayor of Long Beach, Calif., he said that he 'showed that government can be both progressive and effective,' according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Mfume, in text messages he sent to colleagues in May that were viewed by The Times, highlighted his '15 years of service in the House' — experience that he said would help 'aggressively push back against Trump's daily encroachment on congressional powers.'
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Biden's Cancer and a Lawmaker's Death Keep Focus on Democrats' Age Problem
In the last three months alone, three Democratic House members have died in office, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced a serious cancer diagnosis and a new book stoked fresh scrutiny of his declining abilities while serving as commander in chief. For a party struggling with a litany of problems, perhaps no subject in recent years has been more painful, delicate or politically perilous than the matter of age — an issue that keeps rearing its head in 2025 as party leaders now acknowledge the problem but remain hesitant to directly call out aging colleagues. The subject arose yet again on Wednesday, as the family of Representative Gerald E. Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, announced that he had died at 75. He was the sixth House Democrat to die in office in the last year or so, according to what the House press gallery calls its 'casualty list' of deaths, resignations and retirements. Just a few months ago, Mr. Connolly beat out one of the youngest members of Congress, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, 35, in an internal contest to lead their party on the House Oversight Committee. He said at the time that the idea that there was generational change underway in the caucus was a 'false narrative.' His death, after a public battle with esophageal cancer, prompted an outpouring of grief from colleagues. But as Democrats strain to project energy in fighting President Trump, some in the party also saw it as another harsh reminder of the risks the party faces when it prizes seniority and loyalty above all else. Former Representative Joe Cunningham, 42, a South Carolina Democrat, supports age and term limits for political office and publicly urged Mr. Biden not to seek re-election. In an interview, he spoke warmly about Mr. Connolly. But, he said, emphasizing that he was speaking more broadly, 'a lot of these elected officials should have another escape hatch from politics other than death.' 'You can take a look at folks who are up there, who've been up there for 30, 40, 50 years, and say, 'Look, it's probably best time that you move on and create a bit of a room for some new leadership,'' he said. 'Considering where the Democratic Party is now, I think it's a big problem.' He cited the deaths of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, and alluded to Mr. Biden's decision to seek a second term, which he would have concluded at the age of 86. Polling long showed that voters, including many Democrats, had grave worries about Mr. Biden's age and believed he was too old to seek re-election. But party leaders defended him and went to great lengths to emphasize his vigor. They changed course only after a disastrous debate roughly four months before Election Day, when it was too late for a robust and competitive primary campaign. All of those issues are being re-litigated now with the release of the book 'Original Sin' by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, which aims to illuminate how Mr. Biden's advisers shut down discussion of his age-related limitations. 'All of that hammers home how important it is to have this conversation in public, even when it's messy, even when it's walking over land mines, even when it can feel painful, because we can't assume that it's happening in private,' said Amanda Litman, who leads Run for Something, a progressive group that recruits younger Democrats to seek local office. 'We can't assume that the individual elected is going to know when it's their time.' She praised several older Democrats who have decided to retire on their own terms. 'They are being patriots, and when they do move on, they open up the floodgates for new leaders up and down the ballot,' she said. 'The ones that are refusing are being primaried, and those primaries are going to be personal. Like, it's not going to be a fun primary that they're going to romp to victory on.' Mr. Connolly, for his part, had said late last month that he would not seek re-election and would step aside from his leadership position on the Oversight Committee. In a statement, Mr. Connolly's family emphasized a long list of his accomplishments during his decades in public service. 'We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose and his passion,' the statement said. 'We are proud that his life's work will endure for future generations.' While voters and pundits often express enthusiasm for term limits or age limits, a common practice in the corporate world, many politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to recoil from the idea, stressing instead the value of experience. And concerns about age are nothing new in Congress, where Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a Republican and for decades an avowed segregationist, stoked questions about his health and abilities toward the end of his nearly half-century in office. (He died at age 100 and was eulogized by Mr. Biden.) More recently, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has had several health scares. He stepped down as his party's leader and plans to retire. Mr. Trump will be 79 next month and has faced his own questions about age. Some next-generation Democrats are already thinking about the next presidential primary race, which is expected to be a raucous and crowded contest featuring a long list of younger party leaders. But first, the party owes voters a transparent conversation about age, suggested Mr. Cunningham, whose state is likely to be influential in deciding Democrats' 2028 nominee. 'Now, even, some people say it's not a good time to speak out, but this is a family meeting that needs to occur,' he said. 'The party has to go through some form of counseling or something. You know? Like, these areas have to be acknowledged, and there has to be some honest conversations.'
New York Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Gerald Connolly, 75, Top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, Is Dead
Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, a feisty Democrat who prided himself on getting things done, and who defeated Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to become his party's top member of the powerful House Oversight Committee, died on Wednesday at his home in Fairfax County, Va. He was 75. His family announced the death. Mr. Connolly said late last year that he had esophageal cancer and would fight the disease. But in April, he told his constituents that the treatments had been unsuccessful and that he would not seek re-election in 2026. A nine-term congressman from the affluent suburbs of Northern Virginia, Mr. Connolly vigorously defended the interests of the legions of government workers who live in his district, whether by extending the Washington Metro to their communities or by battling President Trump's efforts to weaken civil service job protections for the federal work force. Mr. Connolly fought an executive order issued by Mr. Trump in 2020, near the end of the president's first term, to strip job protections from tens of thousands of career civil servants by reclassifying them as so-called Schedule F political appointees who could be fired at will. The order was reversed by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. This year, as Mr. Trump launched his second term in office with shock-and-awe orders aimed at purging what he viewed as 'deep state' resistance to his policies, Mr. Connolly spoke out. 'Trump is on a wrecking cruise to de-professionalize the civil service and threaten basic services to Americans,' he told The New York Times in January. 'It's unlawful firings and impoundments that threaten to unravel 142 years' of the tradition of a 'civil service immune from partisan politics.' Mr. Connolly was first elected to the House in 2008. His victory, in an open race to replace a retiring Republican, was part of a blue wave that year that heralded Virginia's political realignment from a reliably red state to one that leans blue in federal elections. An influx of immigrants and of high-tech jobs to Mr. Connolly's district changed its demographics and its politics. He moved with those changes, evolving from a nuts-and-bolts proponent of infrastructure to a fiery critic of what he saw as ideological overreach by both Trump administrations. As an increasingly visible member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which lawmakers of both parties use to stymie presidents of the opposing party, Mr. Connolly led an ultimately successful effort to block the Trump White House from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Oversight Committee in 2019 sued Attorney General William P. Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for refusing to turn over documents about a citizenship question, which critics said was politically motivated to intimidate immigrants from census participation and to shrink the number of Democratic seats. In December, Mr. Connolly vied with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star of the left, in a generational contest for the top Democratic position on the Oversight Committee. Mr. Connolly's bid was boosted by the endorsement and the active lobbying of Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House. House Democrats chose him in a secret ballot. The often pugnacious Mr. Connolly criticized a Republican bill in 2024 to rename Dulles International Airport, some of whose employees live in his district, after Mr. Trump. 'If Republicans want to name something after him,' he told The Guardian, 'I'd suggest they find a federal prison.' Gerald Edward Connolly, who was known as Gerry, was born on March 30, 1950, in Boston. He was one three children of Edward Connolly, an insurance salesman, and Mary Therese (O'Kane) Connolly, a registered nurse. He received a B.A. in literature from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and an M.A. in public administration from Harvard University in 1979. His survivors include his wife, Cathy Smith, and their daughter, Caitlin. For a decade, from 1979 to 1989, Mr. Connolly worked as a staff member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Years later, as a member of Congress, he held a seat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Before serving in Congress for 16 years, Mr. Connolly was on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 14 years, beginning in 1995. He was elected chairman in 2003. He promoted the transformation of the county hub at Tysons Corner from a sprawl of shopping malls into a major office center. As a supervisor, he dreamed of extending the Washington Metro deep into the Virginia suburbs. When he reached Congress, he helped procure funding for the Silver Line, which was built out to Tysons Corner in 2014. 'I know this is going to sound corny,' he told The Washington Post that year, 'but I look out at that now, and my heart soars.'
New York Times
21-05-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Gerald Connolly, Top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, Dies at 75
Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, a nine-term congressman who was the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, died on Wednesday, his family said in a statement. He was 75. Mr. Connolly died at his home surrounded by his family, the statement said. It did not give a cause of death. Mr. Connolly had announced in 2024 that he was being treated for cancer of the esophagus. In April, he announced that his cancer had returned and that he would not seek re-election in 2026. He also said he would soon relinquish his spot on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic US Representative Connolly dies, his family says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Representative Gerald Connolly has died, his family said in a statement posted to his account on X on Tuesday following the Virginia lawmaker's cancer diagnosis last year. He was 75.
