Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois has told Rep. Maxine Waters directly that he plans to challenge her for the top Democratic position on the House Financial Services Committee, turning years of quiet grumbling inside the Democrat Party into a full-blown public brawl, just weeks before the midterms.
Waters is 88 years old and has led the committee’s Democrats since 2013. The post controls the party’s approach to banks, the Federal Reserve, cryptocurrency policy, and, if Democrats win the House, the power to launch investigations and run hearings. That’s a lot of power for someone whose colleagues are apparently whispering that maybe, just maybe, it’s time to let someone else hold the gavel.
Casten, 54, personally informed Waters of his intentions on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg Law, making what had been backroom gossip into a real contest. He would have to leapfrog several Democrats with more committee seniority to claim the post, but Casten’s challenge to Waters has forced every member of the caucus to pick a side. Nothing like a little loyalty test six weeks before an election to keep morale high.
Waters isn’t going down without a fight. She’s reportedly enlisted moderate Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and progressive Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts to round up votes, which is a pretty telling combination. She’s trying to prove she can still hold both wings of her fractured party together, and the Congressional Black Caucus is rallying behind her, giving her a significant bloc of support.
Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio has been encouraged by some Democrats and lobbyists to jump into the race, though her spokesperson says she currently supports Waters. And Rep. Bill Foster, 71, who serves as the top Democrat on the Financial Institutions Subcommittee, is also reportedly considering a bid. A second challenger would split the anti-Waters vote, which could actually help her survive. So the Democrats’ strategy to stop an 88-year-old from holding too much power might accidentally be to run two younger people against her at the same time. Brilliant.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic leadership are taking a hands-off approach, according to Semafor, letting challengers solicit commitments from lawmakers who are currently away from Washington. Jeffries may be publicly neutral, but the Steering and Policy Committee, which is generally aligned with party leadership, gets the first say before the full caucus votes. So “hands off” has some asterisks.
Democrats have spent years loudly insisting they’re the party of youth, change, and the future. They’ve mocked Republicans at every turn over age and fitness. Now their own members are circling an 88-year-old ranking member with a leash on one of Congress’s most powerful economic-policy posts, and their leader is hiding under his desk hoping it resolves itself.
The first test comes before the Steering and Policy Committee, then the full caucus gets its vote. Waters is calling in every favor she has, potential rivals are still sizing up the room, and Jeffries is somewhere being very, very neutral. Stay tuned, because when Democrats eat their own, they really commit to the meal.
