Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., will be the House Democratic Party’s top member on the House Oversight Committee, after beating Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch in a 150-63 caucus vote made on Tuesday.  Lynch, 70, is one of the most senior members of the Oversight Committee who had been serving as acting ranking member after the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. took a leave of absence in April.

Politico reported that Garcia, 47, won a first-ballot majority after winning the backing of the caucus’ powerful Steering and Policy Committee.  Garcia said following the vote: “We’ll get immediately to work,” adding that first on the agenda was meeting with the Oversight Committee staff “to let them know that we’re ready for consistent leadership. It is an opportunity for us to continue holding the corruption of Donald Trump accountable and also doing incredible work on government reform. Efficiency is not DOGE. Efficiency is actually making government work better for our constituents across the country, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee oversees federal government activities and has the power of subpoena to compel witnesses to appear before the committee during investigations. Garcia would be in line to chair the powerful Oversight and Government Reform Committee if Democrats win control of the House in next year’s midterm elections. If that were to happen, Garcia would work to hold President Donald Trump accountable for “corruption” while working to reform the federal government, he told media after the caucus vote.

Garcia is in his third term in the House; before coming to Washington, he made history as the first Latino and first openly gay mayor of Long Beach, California. Garcia served as Long Beach mayor from 2014 until 2022, when he won election to succeed Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., who did not seek re-election.

Editorial credit: Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com