Ocasio-Cortez Isn't The Only Progressive Joining This Super Powerful House Committee

The House of Representatives might have turned blue on Jan. 3, but that's not the only way the political landscape is changing in 2019. On Tuesday, the new House Oversight Committee members were revealed, many of which are progressive Democrats, according to Politico. Specifically, the people who were first revealed to be new members of the most powerful House committee were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ro Khanna.

It's safe to say the House committee is making a statement with these incoming members, who are known for being outspoken on their progressive platforms. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said to Politico of the new additions to his team,

If I based the choices going on the committee based on what people said or their reputations or whatever, I probably wouldn’t have a committee. I am excited — there were a lot of people that wanted to come on our committee.

But it's not Cummings who selects the members. Rather, he approves a proposed list of new members that's given to him by the Democratic Steering Committee. Rep. Dan Kildee, who's on the steering committee, said to Politico, “I want people to be aggressive, especially on that committee. It’s good to have people who aren’t afraid."

Kildee added, “They’re going to be dealing with some pretty important stuff.”

Following the news, the young lawmakers took to Twitter to celebrate their newfound committee spots. Tlaib tweeted a link of the announcement, captioning it, "Tick tock," adding in a winking emoji.

Ocasio-Cortez simply retweeted a tweet by New York Times political correspondent Shane Goldmacher, which described her newfound power to "interrogate Trump administration officials in next two years." She then retweeted a tweet by Pressley, which included a meme of a woman yelling, "I have the receipts!" Pressley captioned the meme, "Coming to a committee hearing near you soon."

In total, 23 Democrats were given membership to the House Oversight Committee, according to the official announcement. Per that announcement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the new members,

Our Committee is the primary investigative body in Congress, and we will address the issues that affect the American people every day while we root out waste, fraud, and abuse. The American people voted for accountability and transparency this past election, and I’m eager to work in a bipartisan manner on behalf of all of our constituents to deliver on these goals.

According to CNN, the House Oversight Committee already has a big event on its horizon: it's expected to hear testimony from POTUS' former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in early February. The news network further points out that this committee will be at the heart of any investigation into POTUS or the presidential administration. And the committee will now house at least one individual who has actively called for the president's impeachment: Tlaib.

Following her initial tweet of the announcement, Tlaib added another one shortly after. Tlaib wrote, "Thank you Chairman @RepCummings. Detroit is in the house, so you know it's going to be [fire]."