Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins powerful House committee tasked with overseeing Wall Street

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has the green light from Democratic leaders to join the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees U.S banks, lenders, and financial markets, The Hill reports.

AOC confirmed her membership on the committee in a Twitter post this Tuesday, saying that “Financial Services is one of just four exclusive committees in the House. It oversees big banks, lending, & the financial sector.”

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to sit on this committee as a freshman, and look forward to working under the leadership of [Rep. Maxine Waters],” she added.

As Business Insider points out, it’s rare for freshman members of Congress to be given a spot on a high-ranking committee like the House Financial Services.

The Financial Services Committee has formal responsibility to oversee the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It has regular opportunities to interrogate top US financial officials.

It is where the biggest overhaul of US finance in over a century was put together, and it is virtually impossible to pass new bills about Wall Street without its members’ input.

It is one of the key committees that gives banks their freedom, or reins them in.

The committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), has promised to fight against President Trump’s rollbacks regulations enacted in the wake of the financial crisis. Many see AOC’s membership on the panel as boon to her plan to move the Democratic party further to the left.

In the past, AOC has rejected campaign donations from corporations and has called for big banks to be broken up.

Featured image via screen grab/MSNBC

 

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.