AOC could win a key seat on the House Oversight Committee. Democrats should be thrilled.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — the progressive icon whose political career began just six years ago — is vying to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee. Their possible victory should be a welcome development for the Liberals.

The New York Democrat is a powerful messenger to young voters – and one whose political approach appears to have won the support of many Donald Trump voters in her district, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens. As the committee’s ranking member, Ocasio-Cortez would be tasked with closely monitoring Trump’s new administration.

The jury is still out on whether she and the other relatively young Democrats trying to win leadership positions on committees will prevail. Politico reported Wednesday, citing interviews with a dozen members and staff, that Ocasio-Cortez had won the support of the majority of Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. But as the medium noted, it is the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee that decides who to recommend to the entire Democratic caucus.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is working to boost Ocasio-Cortez’s rival in the membership rankings, Rep. Gerry Connelly of Virginia, Punchbowl News reported Thursday. Both Connelly and Ocasio-Cortez have said they believe they have the votes necessary to win. (Neither MSNBC nor NBC News have confirmed Politico and Punchbowl’s reports.)

But if Ocasio-Cortez prevails, Democrats will have plenty to cheer about. Strategically, she has laid out a vision for the role that could resonate widely with the politically diverse Democratic coalition and beyond.

In a letter she wrote to colleagues last week, Ocasio-Cortez said: “Now more than ever, we must focus on the committee’s strong history of both holding governments to account and addressing the economic precarity and inequality that plagues the United States.” That goal means, she said, “we must balance our focus on the new president’s destructive actions and corruption with a concrete fight to make life better for the American working class.”

And symbolically, her appointment would help allay some concerns that the Democratic Party is a gerontocratic institution and close the gap between veteran Democratic lawmakers and their up-and-coming colleagues. Ocasio-Cortez’s letter praises former Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, who led Trump’s first impeachment inquiry and died in 2019. Cummings was a strong ally of Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive members of the so-called Squad. She has praised his leadership several times since his death.

If she becomes the ranking member of the Oversight Committee and models her reign after his example, Democrats will have little to complain about.