(12-20-2018, 04:55 PM)mikesez Wrote:

(12-20-2018, 02:12 PM)TJBender Wrote: That's not how Congress works. You spend your freshman term on the Toilet Scrubbing Committee while trying to sell overpriced candy bars to tourists at the Washington Monument. You don't get to walk in and take a seat on one of the most important committees.

That's the way that it has worked in the past.  But that's not really fair.  Many people like term limits.  If a district picks candidates that choose to self-impose term limits, that district will never have someone with seniority enough to steer a committee.  If enough other Democrats want AOC on a committee, she should be on it regardless of seniority.  It shouldn't really be up to the Speaker.   They could even make it sort of random and that would be better.

Committee assignments should be set by the person's abilities, experience, and interests.   For example, when it comes to the Ways and Means Committee, if one candidate is a bartender/waitress, and the other candidate is an accountant, I'd pick the accountant every time.  Judiciary Committee should have a large proportion of lawyers.   Commerce Committee should have a large proportion of business people.  

In fact, I don't know of any committee that a bartender/waitress would qualify for, unless there's some obscure subcommittee that deals with bartenders and waitresses.  

As far as seniority goes, the assumption is that experience is a strength.  That's probably a valid assumption.

Also, she doesn't just get put on a committee. She has to take someone else's spot. It's not like "if enough democrats want her on a committee..." There's another person to deal with- the one who doesn't get a seat on the committee because they decided to put her on the committee.

Look, if Bill Gates was a first term congressman, and there was a Technology Committee, then I'd say his qualifications overrode his lack of seniority. But she has no particular qualifications for the Ways and Means Committee.

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