AOC among least effective lawmakers in Congress, study finds
A study has found that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic member of Congress from New York City and a young face in the party, has not been an effective politician in the legislature, based on a survey from the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking.
Ocasio- Cortez, popularly known as AOC, introduced a total of 21 “substantive” bills that did not receive substantial backing from other lawmakers, including committee and floor votes, according to the study, a project of Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia.
“She introduced a lot of bills, but she was not successful at having them receive any sort of action in committee or beyond committee, and if they can’t get through committee, they cannot pass the House,” Alan Wiseman, a Vanderbilt political scientist and the center’s co-director, told the New York Post.
“It’s clear that she was trying to get her legislative agenda moving and engage with the lawmaking process, but she wasn’t as successful as some other members were – even among [other] freshmen – at getting people to pay attention to her legislation,” he said.
AOC was ranked No. 230 out of 240 Congressional Democrats in terms of effectiveness, the study found.
Compared with others in her circle of Congressional allies, collectively known as the “Squad,” AOC was deemed less effective than Ilhan Omar, who sponsored 33 bills, and Rashida Tlaib, who had some of her bills advance to committee, with one becoming a law. Tlaib was ranked No. 92 among the 240 lawmakers.
According to the survey, the most effective lawmakers were Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester, New York), who retired last year and was responsible for 29 major bills introduced in Congress, with seven of them becoming laws, and John Katko (R-Syracuse, New York), with six of his bills becoming laws.