Democratic Rising Star Robert Garcia: The New House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Ranking Member

By: Miriam Edelman

On June 24, 2025, behind closed doors, the House Democratic Caucus elected Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) to be the Ranking Member of the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The spot was vacant because the prior Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA) died from esophageal cancer on May 21, 2025. DCNOW’s blog’s pieces, entitled “Leaders of Key Congressional Committees With Jurisdiction Over Washington, D.C.: Their Views on D.C. Autonomy” and “DCNOW Mourns the Death of Representative Gerry Connolly,” discuss Connolly.

Robert Garcia

Garcia was born in Lima, Peru, on December 2, 1977. When he was five years old, he and his family went to the United States, fleeing the Shining Path (a domestic terrorism group in Peru). His family overstayed their visa. Garcia was an undocumented immigrant. Reading comic books helped teach Garcia English. Although he excelled in school, many did not advise him to go to college. He said: “It was never an option to not go to college. I don’t think I even received much encouragement from counselors or anyone to go to school, but I was driven through my family and through my mother who said, ‘You’re going to go. You’re going to college.’”

Garcia received a B.A. from the California State University, becoming the first in his family to attend college. College was very consequential for Garcia. He faced food insecurity. He also came out as gay. In addition, he became a U.S. citizen because of the amnesty law that President Ronald Reagan signed. This law was a reason why Garcia and his family became registered Republicans. Garcia worked on George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.

Later, Garcia received a M.A. from the University of Southern California, and an Ed.D. from the California State University. He founded the Long Beach Young Republicans. After he registered as a “decline-to-state” voter, he became a Democrat in 2007. He also founded the Long Beach Post before being elected to the Long Beach City Council.

Garcia served in Long Beach, California, government, moving from City Councilmember, to Vice Mayor and finally to Mayor. Garcia’s City Councilmembers chose him as Vice Mayor. Garcia became the youngest Long Beach Mayor, the city’s first openly gay Mayor, its first Latino mayor, and its first Mayor fluent in Spanish and English.

In November 2022, Garcia made history in terms of LGBTQ, ethnicity, and country of origin when he was elected to his first term as a Member of Congress. He was the first openly LGBTQ+ immigrant and the second openly LBGTQ+ Latino elected to Congress. He also was the first Peruvian American elected to Congress.

As a new Member of Congress, Garcia most wanted to join the Oversight Committee. He wanted to use a seat on that committee to challenge conservative Representatives, including Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO). He became a member of that committee during his first Congressional term.

Garcia rose quickly in his brief time in Congress. As Democrats’ freshman class president, he gained access to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other leaders. Garcia was a national co-chair for the Harris-Walz campaign.

In November 2024, Garcia was elected to be the Democratic Caucus’ Caucus Leadership Representative, one of 13 elected Democratic Caucus leadership roles. In this position, he represents Representatives who have been in Congress for fewer than five terms. He is the only LGBTQ+ member in Caucus leadership.

Recent Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Election

Garcia’s win is part of a recent pattern of Democrats choosing younger Members to top committee leadership positions. As the New York Times reported, this victory “suggested a rebuke to the seniority system that Democrats have traditionally used when awarding powerful positions in Congress.”

Notable Democrats did not run in this election. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), the 88-year old most senior Democratic member of the Committee, did not run for the top Democratic position. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), who lost to Connolly for the job late last year, did not run in this most recent election for the Oversight post, saying “It’s actually clear to me that the underlying dynamics in the caucus have not shifted with respect to seniority as much as I think would be necessary, and so I believe I’ll be staying put at Energy and Commerce.” She is no longer on the Oversight Committee.

The four contenders in the most recent Oversight leadership race were two Members in their 70s and two relatively new Members in their 40s. The older candidates were 70-year old Acting Ranking Member Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and 76-year old Kweisi Mfume (D-MD). Mfume had led the NAACP. The younger candidates were the 47-year old Garcia and the 44-year old, second-term Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).

Garcia was seen as a “dark horse” candidate. He is progressive, but his candidacy also appealed to moderates. Thus, his bid bridged Democrats. Garcia, who had supported Ocasio Cortez against Connolly last year, tried to avoid her pitfalls. He met with almost all of the House Democrats.

Garcia’s leadership bid received major support. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus endorsed him. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) did not publicly endorse anyone, but she reportedly supported Garcia, whipping votes for him. She said, “I’m a Californian” and “I’m partial to mayors.” Her father and brother were both Mayors of Baltimore, Maryland.

During the evening of June 23, 2025, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee voted for Garcia. The first ballot vote was Garcia (33 votes), Lynch (15 votes), Mfume (eight votes), and Crockett (six votes). The next day, Crockett and Mfume left the race, and House Democrats voted for Garcia in one ballot in a secret vote of 150 votes for Garcia and 63 votes for Lynch.

With this election, Garcia continued to make history. He was the first Democrat second-term Member to be elected to be a Ranking Member of a House committee in more than 100 years. He is also the first openly gay immigrant to lead a major House committee, the youngest Democrat to have such a post, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s first Latino and openly gay Ranking Member.

Later on June 24, 2025, Garcia’s office issued a press release about his new Oversight role. The release quoted Garcia:

“I am honored to have been chosen by my colleagues to serve as Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee.  We will hold Donald Trump and his Administration accountable for their corruption and abuses of power, and will work to make our government more efficient and effective for the American people.  I look forward to working with the incredible members of the committee. Now let’s get to work.”

Garcia Supports D.C. Statehood

Garcia supports D.C. statehood. He was a cosponsor of the D.C. statehood bill during both of his Congressional terms.

Garcia has noted the Oversight Committee’s hyperfocus on D.C. during the last Congress. As DCNOW’s blog post, entitled “D.C. Elections-Related Legislation Update,” at a mark-up of the Oversight Committee on July 12, 2023, Garcia “remarked that three of the 12 (equally one-quarter) full committee hearings of the Oversight and Accountability Committee focused on D.C. This committee has worked more on the District of Columbia than anything else, and he referred to D.C. as the committee’s ‘political punching bag.’”

Final Thoughts

Congratulations to Representative Garcia. We hope for his continued support for the District of Columbia.