House Democrats today chose Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. – one of the most influential members of Congress on Federal government technology and workforce issues – as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee when the 119th Congress begins its work in January.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., chair of the House Democratic Caucus, announced the results of caucus voting on Democratic leadership for the House Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Oversight committees today after closed-door processes this morning.
In congratulating Rep. Connolly on his selection, Rep. Aguilar also offered his congratulations to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who was vying for the ranking member position on House Oversight.
“We’re the Democratic caucus,” Rep. Aguilar said. “There are different ideas and viewpoints within the caucus, but we’re moving forward, and this is part of our internal process. We will now populate committees and get ready for the 119th Congress.”
Rep. Connolly is a long-time member of the House Oversight Committee and is currently ranking member of its Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation.
He’s been the author and driving force behind several high-profile and enduring legislative efforts to reform and modernize Federal government IT, including the 2014 Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and House Oversight committee efforts to issue semi-annual FITARA Scorecards that grade the 24 largest Federal agencies on progress across a range of IT-related categories.
He also co-authored the 2017 Modernizing Government Technology Act that created the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) that has since invested $1 billion to jump-start Federal agency IT projects, and spearheaded passage of the FedRAMP Authorization Act approved by Congress late in 2022 to overhaul the General Services Administration’s FedRAMP program that evaluates the security of cloud services used by Federal agencies.
“I thank my colleagues for their support and the confidence they’ve placed in me to lead House Democrats on the Oversight Committee,” Rep. Connolly said today in a social media post that focused on the committee’s wider missions.
The congressman, who represents the 11th district of Virginia encompassing Fairfax County and heavy with tech companies and Federal workforce members, wasted no time in promising that his leadership will counter some of the aims of the incoming Trump administration.
“We know what the Republican playbook will be. We have seen it before,” Rep. Connolly said.
“They have demonstrated that they are willing to traffic in debunked conspiracy theories and enable the worst abuses of the Trump Administration,” he said. “This will be trench warfare,” he said, adding, “This is not the time to be timid.”
“I promise the American people that our Committee Democrats will be a beacon of truth and prepared from Day One to counter Republican gaslighting,” he said. “We will be disciplined. We will be laser focused on getting results on the kitchen table issues that affect the American people the most.”
“We will stand up for our democracy and for truth,” the congressman pledged. “And we will protect the tremendous and historic progress we have made as House Democrats.”
