You know life is tough for the “Squad” when less than half its members showed up on Thursday to wave goodbye to two members who lost their Democratic primaries this year and will be ushered out of Congress next month.
Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO), who lost their Democratic primaries to center-left challengers, delivered their farewell speeches on a congressional floor so empty that the echoes may have made them heard twice. Only fellow Squad members Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) were present; missing from the tearful moment were Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Greg Casar (D-TX), Summer Lee (D-PA), and Delia Ramirez (D-IL).
A grand total of three members of Congress showed up to Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush’s farewell speech. pic.twitter.com/HC9GG0UFS3
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) December 13, 2024
President Joe Biden’s loss has sparked a spirited debate about the future of the Democratic Party and whether “woke” issues, including anti-Israel protests supported by some Squad members, were partly to blame. Bowman, who represents a sizable Jewish population in New York’s 16th District, drew a Jewish challenger after referring to Israel’s war against Hamas as a “genocide” against Palestinians, ultimately losing the race by double digits. On Election Day, AOC canceled a planned appearance with Bowman, underscoring how unpopular he had become.
Bush, instead, was dragged down by her own failures of constituent services and self-inflicted scandals. She is tied for the lowest Missouri congressperson to see their bills out of committee, according to GovTrack. At the same time, a number of scandalous headlines percolated during her tenure: the Department of Justice quietly launched an investigation into Bush’s antisemitic bodyguard and whether he performed any actual work despite being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by her official office. She made plenty of avoidable errors as well, confusing Memorial Day with Veterans Day in a social media post, failing to understand the tax code when asked, and offering unsolicited opinions on race about selective criminal matters.
Over the summer, House Democrats were privately fuming that the Squad’s antics were putting their chances of a majority in jeopardy. “Nobody who cares about them tried to help, tried to stop them, tried to say, ‘Hey, there’s a better way. You don’t need to do this. You can advocate for your position without alienating the vast majority of voters,’” one Democratic lawmaker told Politico. “If you’re going to start huge fights as opposed to governing,” the person said, “there are consequences.”
AOC, often seen as the face of the far-left group, has managed to shift her fortunes in another direction. On Wednesday, Politico reported that a majority of Democrats on the House Oversight Committee supported her bid to become ranking member, a quantum leap over Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who is nearly four decades her senior. Cortez, 35, has staked her future on rising in the House and declined to challenge New York’s two Democratic U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). She has shored up relationships with other members, sources say, and regularly contributes to the Democrats’ campaign arm. Her approach may take to heart the lessons learned by watching Bowman and Bush get torched at the polls this year.
