By Gus Saltonstall
Longtime Upper West Side Rep. Jerry Nadler announced on Wednesday that he will step down next term as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
Nadler, who represents our neighborhood along with the rest of the 12th Congressional District, has served in the Committee leadership position since 2017. During his time in the position, he oversaw two impeachments of President Donald Trump.
Nadler, 77, relinquishes the position amid a growing push for younger leadership in key Congressional positions due to worries surrounding the age of current leaders, as first reported by The New York Times.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, 61, a close ally of Nadler, will take over the Democratic leadership position on the Committee.
“As our country faces the return of Donald Trump, and the renewed threats to our democracy and our way of life that he represents, I am very confident that Jamie would ably lead the Judiciary Committee as we confront this growing danger,” Nadler wrote in a letter to his Democratic colleagues in the House. “Therefore,” he continued, “I have decided not to run for ranking member of the Judiciary Committee in the 119th Congress.”
Along with legislation-related work, the House Judiciary Committee conducts oversight of the executive branch and the federal judiciary, and has the authority to impeach federal officials.
The change of generational leadership is happening throughout the Democratic party, as Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, 76, announced last week that he will step down as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, and multiple younger Democrats are challenging Georgia Rep. David Scott, 79, on the Agriculture Committee.
The Times reported that Nadler was “deeply hurt by the push to replace him.”
“Under my leadership, the Committee responded to some of our nation’s biggest challenges,” Nadler wrote in his letter to colleagues. “When Donald Trump and his administration threatened the rule of law and our democratic order, I led the Judiciary Committee’s efforts to hold him accountable for his various abuses of power, culminating in two historic impeachments.”
“As the epidemic of gun violences rage on, we advanced historic legislation to keep Americans safe in their communities, leading to the enactment of the Bipartisan Safer Communites Act — the first significant guns safety legislation enacted in a generation,” he added.
Scott Stringer, former Upper West Side representative and possible 2025 New York City mayoral candidate, told The New York Times the following.
“We used to eat our young, and now we’re eating our old,” Stringer said to the publication. “It does not bode well for the future of the party. This is not a winning formula.”
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Jerry has served well for many years. Time for a change and who better than Raskin?
Bear in mind, Raskin himself is an election denier. The irony is amazing:
https://nypost.com/2024/10/11/us-news/comer-slams-ultimate-hypocrite-raskin-after-house-dem-refuses-to-promise-to-certify-a-trump-victory/
https://gop.com/rapid-response/watch-12-minutes-of-democrats-denying-election-results/
Well, if you are going to believe the NYP and gop.com, then there is no hope for you anyway. Raskin NEVER said what is claimed here. In fact, he has consistently said the opposite.
You need to stop believing your own propaganda.
Francesca you are taking you talking points from the GOP. A real source of truth. Right. Raskin is brilliant.
He did not step down he was forced out. These folks are so full of it.
“Nadler, 77, relinquishes the position amid a growing push for younger leadership…Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, 61…”
When I was younger, yeah, I used to think positions of power should be held by younger people who might connect better with people. But politics is not like that. The way the U.S. political system works is through trust which is obtained only through seniority. Unless there is something going on behind people’s backs. the Senate and House will elevate those with seniority – age has little do with it (although obviously, the older people have a better chance of having a senior position). Seniority is so important because – presumably – those who has served a long time understand how to negotiate and manipulate fellow politicians into getting what they want because of long-established relationships – in other words, trust.
He might be 16 years younger than Nadler, but I tend to think of a 61 year old Raskin as still old (I’m 68).
Raskin is brilliant and I think it takes guts to acknowledge that it’s time to pass the torch.
This is the guy who beat out Carolyn Maloney, not that she was a great prize. Just more of the same. The Democrats really suffer from the seniority system where bland people like Chuck Schumer get promoted just for longevity. They suppress their younger leaders.
Finally!
Despite his efforts, Nadler did not deliver the goods: Trump was re-elected President.
Oh come on–That’s Nadler’s fault? in New York?
Interesting that a Scott Stringer quote is included in the article. I wonder if he is running to succeed Nadler. I doubt Hoylman wants to commute to DC since he is running for borough president because he is tired of the commute to Albany.
Scott is running for mayor, not Congress. And Jerry is not LEAVING Congress; he is simply stepping down from his leadership position on the Judiciary Committee.
Haven’t we had enough of Scott Stringer?
Scott was an Assemblyman from 1993 to 2005. And he was a very good one, as his constituents will tell you (they re-elected him six times, by huge margins) . He then served as Manhattan Borough President from 2006-2013. Among other things, he was a champion of food policies that helped the poor,, and was again re-elected by a huge margin. He then served as NYC Comptroller from 2014-2021. He did a yeoman’s job in that position as well, calling out agencies and others regarding financial waste and bad practices.
As for the two sexual assault allegations that arose during his first run for mayor, both were found to be weak, and in one case not just unsupported, but challenged by friends of the accuser.
Thus, if anything, Scott is EASILY the most qualified candidate for mayor that this City has ever had. And I would proudly vote for him, since his experience in all necessary areas – running a large bureaucracy, dealing with dozens of stakeholders, and delivering for constituents – is LEAGUES beyond anyone else who is running.
Alexander Hamilton, in No. 21 (Federalist Papers) believed that “The natural cure for an ill administration in a popular or representative constitution is a change of men.”
This permanent political class was never envisioned by the founders. Gerrymandering, money and the endless pursuit of power that has enabled people to serve for decades does not serve any of us well. Mr Nadler should not even be in Congresd any more.
We need term limits so that this political class is diminished and real representation is returned to our government.
I cannot agree. It is critical to balance “new, young” voices with experience and knowledge of history. BOTH are needed. Term limits would not allow Congress members to accrue experience and knowledge of the job. I will NEVER support term limits for that reason.
There has to be some balance, and you can set realistic term limits to allow members of the House and Senate to gain an appropriate amount of experience. Chuck Schumer has served in the House and Senate for 43+ years and Nancy Pelosi has served in the House for 37+ years (I find it amusing that she of all people is forcing others out of leadership positions for “younger voices). At some point they’ve had enough “experience.”
Nadler’s feelings were hurt but if the alternative is waiting for him to call himself out, that could take awhile, if ever. Look at Bader Ginsburg’s drawn out in plain view SCOTUS saga.
Strom Thurmand served until he was over 100 years old. Hopefully Representative Nadler will continue to serve at least as long. We will need him to impeach Presidents Trump, Vance, Ramaswamy and Trump, Jr. in the decades to come.
About time! Over decades, he’s done very little of substance for the people of his district. Should have been Ed Sullivan or bring back Rep. Ryan. Now we’ll get another UWS hack who’s been standing in line waiting for their turn.
For a few years, I lived in the same building as Jerry Nadler, his wife and eventually his new born baby–it was a while ago. he has been in politics all his life-he was engaging, smart and sane and I think he still is. It will be a loss.
The Democrat party needs to rebuild from the ground up. Hating Trump is not a winning strategy. Do Democrats have a platform or solutions? Nadler has been there so long I don’t think he has any ideas for the future. He is not just trying to hang on to power for the sake of power.
Unfortunately the Democrat Party’s (my party’s) only selling point was that we believe in the American justice system, and that no one is above the law. That just went up in smoke with Joe’s unconscionable pardon. Now we’ve got nothing.
Raskin is no bargain but Jerry should really take advantage of his retirement benefits.
Rep James Clyburn, age 84, was hugely responsible for no challenge of Harris endorsement by Biden. Dems are stuck in same old playbook, unable to “turn the page.”
Sal Bando wrote:
“The Democrats really suffer from the seniority system where bland people like Chuck Schumer get promoted just for longevity. They suppress their younger leaders.”
Say what you want about “bland” people such as Chuck Schumer, but with seniority in Congress comes perks including knowing how to bring home bacon for state or local district.
Chuck Schumer follows likes of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and rest who made sure NYS received all sorts of federal funding.
When likes of Schumer, Nadler and other “older” NYS members in Congress leave there goes tons of seniority that will have lasting effects on NY getting fair share of federal funds pie. It will take decades before likes of AOC, Ritchie Torres and other young/new members of Congress obtain comparable juice.
I haven’t followed Jerry’s trajectory closely, but I am appreciative for his fierce advocacy of NYC during the early months of the pandemic. He mobilized critical federal resources and funding into the district and city at a really critical juncture.
Why is Scott Stringer opining on this? He lost me. Look, Nadler has had his turn. Raskin will bring fresh energy and ideas.