Facing dual challenges to his leadership from Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.) in the 119th Congress, Scott could be the first Democratic leader in the chamber to outright lose a challenge if his bid to retain leadership fails. Judiciary ranking member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) both relinquished their posts this month.
Scott’s potential loss could also tee up conflict with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which counts the Georgia Democrat as a member and has historically backed seniority as a determinant of leadership — although its members have recently signaled they could be open to challengers.
The two challengers to Scott, who has led the committee’s Democrats since 2021, are both considered moderates within the caucus but have disparate levels of experience. Costa, first elected in 2004, is the No. 2 Democrat on the panel in seniority, while Craig, elected in 2018, is the third least senior.
Scott has been sidelined by health issues, missing two weeks of votes in November due to treatment for a back injury, a similar situation to that of Grijalva, who underwent cancer treatment earlier this year.
But while Grijalva ultimately decided to step back and in December endorsed Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) to take over as ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee after initially pledging to seek another term, Scott has vowed to continue vying to keep his position, saying last week that “it’s in God’s hands.”
Age is a notable elephant in the room amid the challenges — Scott, Nadler and Grijalva are all over 75 years old, and the leadership shuffle comes after an election season marked by panic over the fitness of President Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history, which eventually led him to abandon his reelection bid in July.
Read more at TheHill.com.
