House Democrats named New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney acting chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday. This puts Maloney at the helm, at least temporarily, of one of the panels investigating President Trump as part of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
Maloney, 73, was second in seniority on the investigatory panel behind Chairman Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who died early Thursday morning at 68 after a long illness. Maloney, first elected to the House in 1992, may be poised to take over the committee’s leadership permanently. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California will make that call with the consent of the 234-member Democratic Caucus.
However, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Oversight Committee, told the Washington Examiner she was still undecided as to whether she would support Maloney, an ally of Pelosi, as the committee’s permanent head.
[Read more: Pelosi: Elijah Cummings was ‘North Star’ of the House]
The Oversight and Reform Committee is one of several House panels with members participating in the impeachment inquiry of Trump. It’s being led in the House Intelligence Committee by Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, along with lawmakers from the other panels. While the Ukraine whistleblower issue is currently its main line of inquiry, the Oversight and Reform panel may bring in additional issues to impeachment proceedings.
Maloney represents the Upper East Side of Manhattan, part of Brooklyn, a portion of Queens, and Roosevelt Island.
Maloney tweeted condolences for Cummings, saying she lost a “dear friend and mentor.”
“In an era where our politics have been plagued by coarseness and personal attacks, Elijah represented grace, dignity, and empathy under the most trying of circumstances,” Maloney said. “His legacy — his fight for fairness, justice, and equality — should be an inspiration to us all.”
