Pelosi won. The Democratic Party lost.

The elders are not too old to rule. However, in this case, they may be too attached to a failed approach. For example, the Oversight Committee’s mission is to “ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government and all its agencies,” including the Pentagon. Connolly took $118,500 last cycle from political action committees (PACs) tied to the defense sector. Ways and Means is the top tax committee of the House of Representatives and is responsible for, among other things, the revenue-related aspects of Social Security and Medicare. Neal is one of the insurance industry’s top donors, accepting $412,000 from insurance industry PACs and generous six-figure donations from HMOs and pharmaceutical companies in the 2024 campaign cycle. Frank Pallone has received more than $1 million from utilities since joining Congress in 1998.

In other democracies, the leadership of parties that have suffered humiliating defeats like the Democrats’ in November – or even just regular defeats – are resigning. This sets in motion a process in which members determine a new, ideally more successful direction, which is represented by different people. But the Democratic Party is not really a “party” of the kind that exists in other democracies, with members and official constituencies like unions that have a say in how it is governed. Members tend to make decisions based on their own interests rather than to advance a common, democratically decided agenda.

That’s one reason the Oversight Committee ordeal is so depressing for the few dozen journalists and political junkies who cover such things. The continued resistance of Pelosi and the old guard to younger talent seems breathtakingly counterproductive given the many challenges currently facing the Democratic Party. At the same time, the House of Representatives’ “resistance” to Trump and House Republicans is led by people of all ages who appear to have no particular interest in this project, even though they have warned throughout the election cycle that Trump’s Republican Party represents a second coming of the Fascism. If new House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries really believes that, why is he touting his willingness to work with the Republican Party? Why are so many other Democrats trying to come to terms with Trump’s henchman Elon Musk?