Ocasio-Cortez May Take On Wall Street in New Senate Committee - Reports

The New York representative sought a committee assignment that would allow her to take on big finance, according to a Politico report.

The assignment, which lawmakers say they expect her to receive, might pit the 29-year-old politician not only against banks — a major local industry in her state, but also potentially against business-friendly Democrats who have backed financial deregulation.

"I think with our district, we can be ambitious, so we're kind of swinging for the fences on committees," Ocasio-Cortez told Hill.tv in an interview after her win over Democrat Joe Crowley during the November midterm elections.

Some moderate Democrats have privately raised concerns that they’ll be targeted by their ally, who has brought attention to herself in recent months.

“I don’t know enough about her to be able to determine if she’s going to be a good member or what,” said Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), a senior Financial Services Committee lawmaker “Time will tell, and this one term will tell us a lot about her abilities as a legislator.”

Whoopi Goldberg Slams Ocasio-Cortez, Urges Her to Stop 'Pooping' on Other Dems

9 January 2019, 03:39 GMT

US President Trump singled out finance reforms implemented in the aftermath of the financial crisis during his presidential campaign, saying they were an example of government overreach that had kept banks from lending and wrongly penalized institutions that had little or nothing to do with the crisis. Trump promised a less restrictive regulatory environment, particularly in banking, easing restrictions for businesses – a tendency which Democrats have been trying to reverse.

Since her election, Ocasio-Cortez has made a number of controversial statements which have provoked strong responses, including accusing the former White House Chief of Staff and retired Marine Corps General John F. Kelly of “cowardice.”