Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joins House FinServ Committee

After two years of a lack of tough oversight, Wall Street firms should brace themselves for increased scrutiny as progressive U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is likely to join the House Financial Services Committee.

According to a report in Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, a group of Democrats on the steering committee voted to name Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star in the party who is loved by progressives, to the panel. In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, two other newly elected progressive Democrats, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Katie Porter of California, are expected to join the panel in charge of oversight for Wall Street and the financial services industry. Bloomberg noted that Tulsi Gabbard, the lawmaker from Hawaii who announced plans to run for president in 2020, will also likely be named to the House Financial Services Committee.

According to Bloomberg, a majority of Democrats in the House have to give Ocasio-Cortez the votes to join the House Financial Services Committee. But with the approval of the steering committee, she is expected to easily win a majority of votes. California Democrat Maxine Waters will lead the panel.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to sit on this committee as a freshman, and look forward to working under the leadership of @RepMaxineWaters!” Ocasio-Cortez said in a Twitter post on Tuesday (Jan. 15), reported Bloomberg. In a subsequent tweet, she said she is “looking forward to digging into the student loan crisis, examining for-profit prisons/ICE detention, and exploring the development of public & postal banking. To start.”

The committee plays a big role in determining the policies for the banking industry, as well as for hedge funds and insurance companies. As a result, the lawmakers who sit on it are known for their effective fundraising, noted the report. Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, is likely to call for increased oversight of financial companies if she is named to the panel. In the past, the 29-year-old congresswoman has called for the largest banks to be broken up. She is part of an up-and-coming group of Democrats who want to rid the country of income inequality and are calling on the biggest earners in the country to pay more in taxes.