Democrats will have the unenviable task of pushing back against a second Trump administration as the minority party across Washington. And in the House of Representatives, some Democrats are openly wondering whether the septuagenarian leader of their caucus on the Judiciary Committee is up to the task.
According to the New York Times, a movement is afoot to force 77-year old Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a member from New York since 1992, to step aside and let a younger, more energetic opponent of Donald Trump take charge. If the motif sounds familiar, it may be because the Democrats are generally led by aging long-timers, from President Joe Biden in the White House to committee chairs like Nadler. Now, they must reckon with whether loyalty to these elder statesmen is a winning strategy.
The battle raises the question of how far Democrats will go to shake up their own ranks.
Two years ago, Nancy Pelosi, then 82, stepped down as leader of the House Democrats. Today, she is reportedly one voice urging a changing of the guard on the Judiciary Committee. According to the Times, Pelosi has encouraged Rep. Jamie Raskin, who first won his Maryland seat in 2o16, to challenge Nadler for the job of ranking member on the committee.
Raskin, a constitutional lawyer, gained a nationwide profile for leading the second impeachment trial against Trump in 2021. Current House leadership, according to the Times, are staying neutral in the race. But for Democrats, who generally don’t abide challengers to incumbent leaders, public neutrality is a marked shift. Still, Raskin has taken his time weighing any challenge to Nadler, with no decision announced.
The debate over who will lead the committee’s Democrats is part of a prospective much larger remaking of the Democratic Party in the weeks, months, and years to come. After losing the 2024 elections, the party already has multiple candidates seeking to lead the Democratic National Committee, the central organ of the party, offering competing visions for how to win back a majority of Americans. Within the halls of Congress, Democrats similarly must grapple with the most effective way to hold a Trump administration accountable while in the minority.
In the context of that struggle, the choice of a Democratic leader at the Judiciary Committee is unusually consequential. Trump is widely expected to try to use the Justice Department, which the panel oversees, to exact political revenge. From immigration to abortion and beyond, he promises to push the bounds of presidential power. The committee will be at the center of those fights, and its leader charged with playing a central roles in illuminating and fighting any abuses.
Nadler isn’t the only ranking Democrat facing resistance. The Democrat currently leading the caucus on the Agriculture Committee, Rep. David Scott of Georgia, is 79. Two Democrats are challenging him for the spot. And Rep. Jared Huffman of California, 60, is challenging Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, 76, for the top spot on the Committee on Natural Resources.
“Now, with the shockwave of Trump’s ‘First 100 Days’ agenda about to slam into our committees, effective committee work led by our Ranking Members will be critical to limiting the damage from Trump’s Project 2025 agenda,” Huffman said in a statement outlining his pitch. (Grijalva has said he will only serve two more years in Congress as he battles lung cancer.)
These fights raise the question of how far Democrats will go to shake up their own ranks in the wake of a demoralizing loss—or if they will stay the course under leaders who just weeks ago oversaw that defeat.
