House Democrats on Tuesday picked Long Beach Rep. Robert Garcia to chair the House Committee on Oversight and Reform — an influential post for the congressional sophomore amid growing internal calls for a generational change in leadership and a turbulent second term for President Donald Trump.
Garcia, 47, won the seat in a 150-63 vote over 70-year-old Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., who filled in for Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, who took a leave of absence in April. Connolly died last month at 75.
Two other representatives — Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Tx. — both withdrew prior to the vote Tuesday after a poor showing in a Democratic steering committee vote Monday night. Garcia earned 33 of those 60 votes.
As the main investigative committee in the House, the Oversight Committee is one of the most influential and contentious panels in Congress. Its leadership has the power to investigate, monitor and oversee the federal government and its agencies for misconduct and malfeasance.
While Democrats, as the minority party, cannot issue subpoenas or call hearings, Garcia will have the authority to conduct investigations, control Democratic witnesses during hearings and manage debate time on the House floor.
Republican leader James Comer, who chairs the Oversight Committee, will have to consult Garcia on issues of procedure and the legislative agenda.
In a call Tuesday, Garcia acknowledged that leadership of such a post is often rewarded to a party’s most senior members. The contest between Lynch and Garcia was seen by many as a generational challenge, as more senior Democrats have in past years shown reluctance to pass on key roles to younger members.
“This has typically been a caucus that has rewarded seniority and longevity, neither of which I have in Congress,” Garcia said. “But I think they also made a decision to expand the tent. I think everyone has heard, ‘We need to expand the tent. We need to bring in new voices. We need generational change.’”
The position has also suffered high turnover recently, with Lynch being the fifth person to hold it in six years. None of them was younger than 60 years old.
Garcia’s pitch, made in more than 200 meetings with Democrats during a six-week campaign that led up to Tuesday’s vote, was that he strikes the balance between priority for Congress’ experienced lawmakers and those wishing to offer new ideas to the mix.
While new to Congress, Garcia pointed to his eight-year tenure as mayor of Long Beach, from 2014 to 2022, after which he succeeded Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., who did not seek re-election.
“How we were able to run a port, an airport and utility department and a transit agency, and we had 6,000 incredible employees, and presented the work of our City Council,” Garcia said. “All the experience that gave me to prepare me to do this job.”
Garcia has served on the Oversight Committee since first being elected to Congress in 2023.
Over the next several weeks, Garcia said he plans to meet with committee staff and leadership, “to make sure we’re all on the same page.” There will be a definite focus, he added, on investigations into the Trump Administration, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and its former head, Elon Musk.
“We will hold Donald Trump and his Administration accountable for their corruption and abuses of power, and will work to make our government more efficient and effective for the American people,” Garcia said in a statement. “Now let’s get to work.”