Democrats on the verge of pushing out another committee leader

Momentum is building among Democrats to oust their ailing leader on the House Agriculture Committee, part of the party's generational shake-up on Capitol Hill in the wake of their demoralizing losses in November.

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) — the committee’s current ranking member — faces a challenge from fellow Democrats Reps. Jim Costa of California and Angie Craig of Minnesota for the post in the next Congress. And, according to more than two dozen House Democratic lawmakers and aides granted anonymity to discuss the matter, Scott is poised to lose the vote if he doesn’t step aside before then.

“The race is against Costa and Craig at this point,” said one House Democratic lawmaker. “Scott is done.”

If he loses, Scott would be the third septuagenarian House Democrat push out of a committee leadership role in the new Congress — along with Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who ended bids to continue as ranking members on the House Natural Resources and House Judiciary Committees following challenges from younger Democrats. And it would be a sign of just how strongly the party wants to turn the page on an older generation of leaders, particularly after losing an election many blame on 82-year President Joe Biden’s initial decision to run for a second term.

“It’s in the air. People want heads to roll on our side,” a House Democratic aide said.

At this point, Scott can only survive if the powerful Steering Committee recommends him for the post again when the panel meets next Monday. Such a move would essentially block Costa and Craig from consideration. But House Democrats, including several on the Steering panel, don’t expect that to happen.

Costa has strong ties to a bloc of senior Democrats on the Steering panel who have been pushing for him. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has also been telling members she is supporting Costa in the race and trying to advocate for him, according to three people familiar with the conversations. Craig meanwhile is a frontline Democrat who has a strong relationship with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team. Jeffries, according to Democratic lawmakers, hasn't discouraged her or any other Democrat from challenging Scott and additional senior panel leaders.

Spokespeople for Jeffries and Pelosi declined to comment.

Costa, a Congressional Hispanic Caucus member, also secured the endorsement of the influential caucus Tuesday, according to two people familiar with the closed-door meeting.

Separate discussions are also underway among some members who are searching for a way for the Steering Committee to refrain from making any recommendation on the Agriculture panel race — which would effectively greenlight Scott’s ouster without the panel having to overtly move against him.

Scott, 79, has faced a number of behind-the-scenes attempts to remove him as the Agriculture Committee’s leading Democrat in recent years, as POLITICO has reported. He became the first Black chair of the Agriculture Committee in 2021, and then stayed on as ranking member in 2023. But a growing group of fellow Democrats have complained to party leaders that he is no longer able to effectively lead the committee, which faces critical negotiations on a $1.5 trillion farm bill in the next Congress.

Spokespeople for Scott did not respond to an inquiry. But Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), who still supports Scott, said his fellow Georgia Democrat indicated in a recent conversation that he was staying in the Agriculture panel race.

Scott missed two weeks of votes last month to receive treatment for back problems, and currently relies on a wheelchair to get around the Capitol. And he has shed so much personal staff in recent years that his 26-year-old chief of staff, who was recently promoted from legislative assistant, is one of the few people left in his office to navigate the fallout as members dig in to oust remove Scott from his leadership role.

Scott won his post with the support of then-Speaker Pelosi and the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, but those alliances are now crumbling.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who himself represents a new generation of Democratic leadership, has notpublicly backed Scott as strongly in recent monthas Pelosi once did. Jeffries and his leadership team also made the rare move last year to start personally attending several meetings with Scott and his agriculture panel Democrats after members continued to raise alarms about Scott.

In private conversations with rank-and-file members, Jeffries and his team have taken concerns about Scott seriously, according to three Democratic lawmakers familiar with the conversations.

The CBC is navigating its own generational divide on the matter and has so far stayed silent on the challenges to Scott’s leadership in the next Congress, despite strongly pushing back on an effort to replace him in 2022.

“I don’t think he has the capacity,” said one younger House Democrat who is a CBC member, who was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the matter. “I’m leaning towards Angie.”

Asked if younger members within the Black Caucus are more willing to oust Scott compared to the older guard who’ve long backed the Georgia Democrat, the young CBC member responded: “Absolutely.”

But in an incredibly striking move, even some older Black Caucus members say they’re still weighing their options.

“I haven’t made up my mind,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the top Democrat on the Homeland Security panel. “But I do want someone who … can carry the Democratic message far and wide. … We need the strongest voice.”

Thompson headed the farm bill task force that Jeffries created in 2023, effectively removing a major piece of Scott’s workload as ranking member. Democrats pleaded with Thompson and senior Democrats for him to take over the Agriculture panel from Scott, but Thompson resisted their efforts.

Scott has raised eyebrows by not showing up to several candidate forums to make his case members. Thompson said it was his understanding that Scott isn’t attending the Black Caucus member forum Wednesday.

“I think that’s a mistake,” Thompson said. “I think anyone running has to make their case as to why they’re there. It’s part of the process.”

“The first inclination of course is to support him,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. “However, I’m also talking to members of the committee, etc. to see where they are.”

“Any member that’s not feeling well, I have concerns about their health, and obviously he would be one of them,” Meeks added, when asked about other members’ concerns regarding Scott.

On Monday, Scott's team scheduled a meeting with him and House Agriculture Democrats for Wednesday (right before the CBC candidate forum Scott is expected to skip) to provide an update on the ongoing farm bill extension talks as negotiators are close to a deal, according to two Democrats familiar with the plans. Scott’s panel staff have dug into hammering out a complex farm bill extension agreement in a way that’s made fellow lawmakers believe the Georgia Democrat will try to hang onto the role until the very end. He also hasn’t made any indication to panel Democrats that he plans to step aside and told POLITICO just off the House floor last week that he was in fact not dropping out of the ranking member race.

Scott also skipped making his case before the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is chaired by House Agriculture member Greg Casar (D-Texas), and a separate closed-door candidate forum on Tuesday for the New Democrat Coalition, a center-left caucus of about 100 Democrats, of which he’s a member.