Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could face the biggest test of her influence yet if a coveted spot as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee opens up.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who currently holds the job, is running against Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) for the top Democratic spot on the Judiciary Committee. If Raskin successfully ousts Nadler, that will kick off a scramble to replace him.

Although Democrats are reluctant to publicly discuss an Oversight bid before the Judiciary challenges are settled, lawmakers are privately making calls to test the waters, quietly jockeying behind the scenes. In addition to Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), possible contenders for the top spot include Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

It’s the latest example that will test how far House Democrats are willing to go in shaking up their seniority-dominated conference. Several lawmakers are already openly challenging senior Democrats for the gavels on key panels.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said Monday he would end his bid for reelection as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, potentially clearing the way for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who’d been challenging Grijalva, though Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) has also signaled interest. And atop the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who’s faced questions about his health and his ability to lead the panel’s Democrats, is facing strong challenges from Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.).

But the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez is a different case. She’s not just significantly younger than those other contenders, she’s also frequently challenged the party’s status quo writ large. She was often at odds with the previous generation of House leaders and, along with other members of the progressive “Squad,” has used her powerful microphone to, at times, express skepticism of Democratic leadership.

It’s unclear if she could be swept in with a wave of generational change or could face turbulence in the Steering and Policy Committee, a leadership-appointed panel that decides most committee positions. The committee is expected to start considering the contested ranking member slots next week and will make recommendations to the full caucus after holding secret-ballot votes.

If Ocasio-Cortez mounts a bid and wins her caucus’ support, it could amount to the ultimate inside power play for the outspoken progressive, who first came to office by primarying a powerful committee chair in 2018. A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez didn’t respond to a request for comment.

It would come less than two years after Raskin and Oversight Committee Democrats gave her the vice ranking member position, a move that gave her a high-profile perch amid concerns that Raskin could be absent during his cancer treatments at the time.

Ocasio-Cortez is also close with Raskin, first serving as his vice ranking member on a previous Oversight subpanel overseeing civil rights issues. She’s also helped mentor younger committee members and gone viral for high-profile tangles with Republicans on the panel, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Democrats nationally are wrestling over who will lead their party post-election. But in the Senate, they’re largely staying the course.

In a closed-door party meeting on Tuesday, Senate Democrats elected leadership for their return to the minority, including tapping Sen. Chuck Schumer for another term as caucus leader, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was also elected to another term as whip, the No. 2 spot.

Two other Democrats rose in the ranks: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was elected to the No. 3 spot as chair of the Steering and Policy Committee. It’s a step up for Klobuchar, who is currently No. 4 in the Democratic leadership rankings and serves as chair of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

And Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) was elected as chair of the Strategic Communications Committee. The one-time presidential candidate has been in the Senate in 2013 after previously serving as a mayor of Newark, N.J.

All of the elections were unanimous, per the aide.

Schumer’s reelection as leader in particular signals trust from rank-and-file Democrats in their current leadership ranks. Despite a brutal November for the party writ large, Senate Democrats did win competitive races in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona. They’re still publicly ambitious about their 2026 map and hopeful about their chances to take back the majority.

That positivity doesn’t extend party-wide. Multiple Democrats in the House are being challenged for ranking member seats. And Democratic pundits are still locked in a back-and-forth over what went wrong for the party which lost the House, Senate and presidency. Schumer himself has acknowledged the party needs to reflect on how it’s connected with voters and assess ways to adjust.

“I am honored and humbled to be chosen by my colleagues to continue leading Senate Democrats during this crucial period for our country …” Schumer said in a statement. “Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values. We have a lot of work ahead – in the Senate and as a country — and in this upcoming Congress, our caucus will continue to fight for what’s best for America’s working class.”

Schumer, gesturing to the photographers after the leadership elections, asked his fellow Democrats if they should flash thumbs up, but Klobuchar replied: “No, we should not.”

Senate Democrats will huddle Tuesday morning to elect colleagues to the party’s leadership ranks — with the main action expected to be the elevation of Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) into the third and fourth spots of conference leadership, respectively.

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Whip Dick Durbin are expected to be tapped again for their leadership posts, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) is slated to become chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to hold an hourslong policy retreat on Tuesday to discuss the planned party-line reconciliation push.

Floor action watch: The Senate confirmed two more of President Joe Biden’s judicial picks to lifetime posts on Monday evening and Schumer filed cloture on five more picks, including a familiar face to Capitol Hill watchers: former one-term Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi (N.Y.).

The House returns Tuesday night for its first votes since Thanksgiving. Lawmakers will churn through 20 bills on suspension.

 🗓️ What we’re watching

• An impasse over FBI background checks for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees will likely be resolved “in the next few days,” Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi told reporters Monday.
• By giving his son Hunter a “full and unconditional” pardon, President Joe Biden has given Trump new rationale for even more expansive pardons than those he issued in his first term.
• Immigration Hub, a pro-immigration group that was born in 2017 in response to Trump’s first term, announced the launch of a new political arm to combat the administration’s agenda and help Democrats proactively message on an issue that has long challenged the party.

👀 What’s Trump up to?

• Trump says he will attend the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris on Saturday. The visit will be his first major outing since winning the election.

🚨What’s up with the nominees?

• Defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth will be on the Hill today meeting with more senators on the Armed Forces Committee, including Republican Sens. Tedd Budd (N.C.), Jim Risch (Idaho) and Eric Schmitt (Mo.). 
• Few GOP senators are raising early opposition to Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel. Patel has promised to purge the FBI of people he sees as unloyal to Trump and has indicated he would seek a near-total revamp of the agency. 
• Trump’s health care picks speak to a larger sentiment among many Americans that health officials got some of the pandemic response wrong — particularly on school closures and lockdowns. Some experts say creating a binary of who got the pandemic right and wrong is unhelpful.

📝ICYMI: Here are the latest Cabinet picks

• Trump plans to nominate investment banker Warren Stephens to be his ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The promotion of President Joe Biden’s pick to lead U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa has cleared the Senate after an unexplained delay.

The promotion of Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue — who led the 82nd Airborne Division during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan — to the rank of four-star general was approved quietly before the Senate adjourned.

Donahue’s promotion was conspicuously left out of a tranche of hundred of routine military nominees confirmed before the Senate’s Thanksgiving recess, indicating a senator was holding up his nomination. Several outlets reported that Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a critic of the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, had placed a procedural hold on Donahue’s promotion.

A spokesperson for Mullin did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the hold.

Now the commanding general of the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, Donahue led the 82nd Airborne as it secured the airfield at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport as Americans and Afghans were evacuated as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in the summer of 2021.

Touted as the final American service member out of Kabul, Donahue was pictured in a grainy photo climbing aboard a cargo plane at the end of the evacuation. The image went viral at the time.

At the same time, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have criticized Biden administration’s decisions surrounding the withdrawal, and have slammed Biden in particular over a suicide bombing during the evacuation at the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate that killed 13 U.S. military personnel.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to fire senior officers involved in the pullout. NBC News also reported following the election that Trump’s transition team is compiling a list of senior officers involved in the withdrawal and weighing whether they could be court martialed.

Donahue has led the 18th Airborne Corps since 2022. He also led Special Operations Joint Task Force Afghanistan and served as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism.

Donald Trump says he will attend the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris on Saturday.

The visit will be his first major outing since winning the election.

“President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!” Trump said Monday in a post on X.

The reopening of the cathedral, which was badly damaged in a 2019 fire, will be a major global affair. Heads of state and government from about 50 nations are expected to attend, according to The Associated Press.

The restoration of the cathedral, a World Heritage site, was financed by donors from 150 countries and cost nearly 700 million euros.

Macron was the first head of government to congratulate Trump after his win. The two worked together closely during Trump’s first term, although at times they had a strained relationship.

Entertaining world leaders won’t be the only thing on Macron’s plate this week, however.

The French government led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces a no-confidence vote on Wednesday that it is expected to lose.

Barnier’s efforts to push through a budget without a parliamentary vote upset the left and the far-right wings of the French National Assembly. Macron will need to appoint a new prime minister to replace Barnier if he is ousted just weeks before end-of-year deadlines for the budget.

An impasse over FBI background checks for Trump’s Cabinet nominees will likely be resolved “in the next few days,” a top Republican told reporters Monday.

“I do think there will be FBI background checks,” said Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the ranking GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The comments came amid fears the incoming Trump administration plans to bypass the customary step for top appointees, raising concerns about its vetting of candidates. The potential departure from protocol has sparked a debate about the necessity of reviewing the background of people who would hold high-level positions, with Democrats calling it a prerequisite.

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has urged Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who will lead the Republican majority next year, to insist on thoroughly vetting Trump’s picks. Schumer said in a letter that Democrats are committed to a confirmation process that includes “reviewing standard FBI background-investigation materials.”

“In our system of checks and balances, the Senate plays a vital role in ensuring the President appoints well-qualified public officials that will dutifully serve the American people and honor their oaths to the Constitution,” Schumer wrote. “Regardless of party, the Senate has upheld this sacred duty for generations and we should not and must not waver in our Constitutional duty.”

Wicker will lead the panel considering the nomination of Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, who has faced allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. Hegseth was on Capitol Hill again Monday to meet with Republican senators to shore up his nomination.

In Hegseth’s case, the decision is needed soon if Trump wants his Defense secretary confirmed on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. But the question has overshadowed the confirmation process for Cabinet picks overall and raised questions about whether the Senate could do its own investigations.

“I think the issue of who does the background check is about to be resolved in conversations between leadership on both sides of the aisle and the transition team,” Wicker said. “So wait for the next day or two.”

Wicker declined to say directly whether the absence of an FBI background check is disqualifying for Hegseth, but said his “preference” is that it happen.

“My preference is that we honor the precedent that has been in place since the Eisenhower administration, and be informed by the agency that does background checks,” he said.

Few GOP senators are raising early opposition to President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel.

Even Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — who was outspoken against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) potentially becoming attorney general — didn’t immediately dismiss Patel on Monday, saying she’d need time to review his profile.

“I don’t know Kash Patel,” Collins said. “I had heard his name, but I don’t know his background, and I’m going to have to do a lot of work before reaching a decision on him. In general, I’ve found it’s important to review the background check, the committee work and the public hearing.”

Trump announced his selection of Patel to lead the FBI over the weekend. Christopher Wray, the current leader of the bureau who was originally appointed by Trump in 2017, has been confirmed to a term through 2027. That means Patel, if confirmed, would usurp Wray from the seat years ahead of schedule.

Trump can only afford to lose three Republican votes on any nominee if Democrats are unified in opposition.

Patel is a fierce and vocal supporter of Trump’s and served in the president-elect’s first administration as a staffer for the National Security Council. He was also a senior staffer for former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who repeatedly attempted to discredit the Russia investigation from his perch atop the House Intelligence Committee.

Patel has promised to purge the FBI of people he sees as unloyal to Trump and has indicated he would seek a near-total revamp of the agency. In Trump’s statement announcing his intent to nominate Patel, he commended the soon-to-be nominee for playing “a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”

Trump has personally railed against the FBI, particularly after agents conducted a search for classified documents at his residence at Mar-a-Lago in 2022.

A number of GOP senators on Monday evening said they thought Patel could be confirmed. Soon-to-be Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said “the president ought to have who he wants serving in his administration.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he plans on meeting with Patel this week and is “in a presumptive positive position” over the nomination “right now.”

“I do think he will be able to get confirmed, absolutely,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has expressed reservations about Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to be Defense secretary.

Though there aren’t immediate signs of mass opposition to Patel’s nomination, there are some concerns about cutting Wray’s term short. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) noted Trump picked Wray himself for a 10-year term in 2017 and that the senator had no “complaints” or “objections” with the current leadership team.

“We provide advice and consent,” Rounds said on ABC’s “This Week.” “That can be sometimes advice, sometimes it is consent.”

Collins also noted she thinks Wray has done “a good job” as FBI director. Still, many Republicans disagree with that assessment, and some like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) insist “Kash Patel would be perfect to clean house over there.”

It is clear, however, that Trump cannot count on Democratic support to get Patel’s nomination across the finish line.

“He has said things about weaponization of law enforcement and reform in the FBI, which leads some to believe — I hope it’s not true — that he will take the same type of revenge politically that he’s accusing this administration of,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Monday.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated investment banker Warren Stephens to be his ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Stephens, a financial backer of Trump’s campaign, would be among at least five other billionaires selected for major roles by the president-elect.

“Warren has always dreamed of serving the United States full time,” Trump said Monday in a Truth Social post. “I am thrilled that he will now have that opportunity as the top Diplomat, representing the U.S.A. to one of America’s most cherished and beloved Allies.”

Stephens donated $1 million to Trump’s campaign over the summer after supporting other Republican presidential candidates, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

In 2016, Stephens gave a combined $5.9 million to a pair of super PACs that spent heavily to prevent Trump from winning the Republican nomination.

Staring down a government shutdown deadline in less than three weeks, congressional leaders have begun serious negotiations toward a funding patch that punts the deadline into President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

A grand deal on final funding bills is highly unlikely before the Dec. 20 deadline, considering Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have yet to strike a “toplines” agreement on overall spending totals for the military and non-defense programs. So lawmakers must now ready yet another stopgap that keeps federal agencies running on static funding — after they already punted on spending back in September.

Schumer said on the floor Monday that “both sides are making progress negotiating on a bill that will pass the House and Senate with bipartisan support.”

“We need to keep divisive and unnecessary provisions out of any government funding extension, or it will get harder to pass a CR in time,” he added. “For now, I’m pleased negotiations are on the right track.”

Republicans had been waiting for Trump to indicate if he preferred a stopgap bill that punted funding decisions into his term or if he wanted lawmakers to negotiate new spending levels now, so he could focus on other legislative priorities as he took over the executive branch. Trump has been uncharacteristically silent on the issue, but lawmakers are running out of time to incorporate the president-elect’s stance into bipartisan and bicameral talks if they want to avoid a shutdown. Johnson has said he and Trump talk frequently about funding, but the speaker won’t divulge the details of those discussions.

If Trump weighs in with sweeping demands closer to the deadline, when many details have already been hammered out, it could increase the chance of a deal falling apart. Neither party wants a shutdown at this point.

The length of the funding patch, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, as well as what special exceptions are included and how much disaster aid is attached will be the main focus of negotiations.

House conservatives are advocating for a new March deadline, which would bring it perilously close to a late-April trigger that would mean sweeping funding cuts unless Congress passes a bill with new spending levels by then. Democrats and many appropriators in both parties want an earlier deadline, both to defuse the risk of those cuts and to give federal agencies budget certainty sooner.

Leaders also aim to clear tens of billions of dollars in disaster aid this month, likely attached to a funding patch, despite calls from some GOP senators for a standalone vote. The White House requested more than $98 billion in emergency funding to help cover the costs of recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

And Democratic and Republican negotiations are each pushing to add funding for other priorities that could prompt partisan skirmishes. GOP lawmakers also want to leave out funding the White House sought for things like climate and education programs.

The speaker long ago swore off a pre-Christmas so-called omnibus spending package that bundles the dozen individual measures that keep federal agencies funded each year, a mammoth bill that now regularly totals over a trillion dollars. Congress is out of time to pass all 12 bills individually through both chambers, a process that lawmakers now struggle to complete every year.

Conservatives in the House have long protested the omnibus process and would likely be incensed if Johnson green-lighted such a bill now. They favor passing a stopgap bill this time, arguing Trump and the GOP majorities next term should set spending levels. Given Johnson needs to keep GOP lawmakers unified behind him before the formal Jan. 3 speakership vote, resorting to a stopgap this month helps him by delaying Republican infighting until after he has re-secured his post.