Rep. Cori Bush, the St. Louis Democrat who is leaving the House after her loss in a closely watched primary, delivered her final speech on the chamber’s floor Thursday.
She reflected on her accomplishments, stated that the November elections sent a message to her party, and hinted that her career in Congress may not be over, according to Spectrum News, a local outlet.
A product of the Ferguson protest movement, Bush rose to prominence after defeating incumbent Rep. Lacy Clay in the 2020 Democratic primary for Missouri’s first congressional district, which includes the city of St. Louis and parts of St. Louis County. In 2022, she easily defeated State Sen. Steve Roberts in a primary before winning re-election in a district heavily favored by Democrats, the outlet reported.
In her speech, she reflected on her efforts in 2021 when she and others camped outside the U.S. Capitol in protest against the impending end of an eviction moratorium put in place during the COVID pandemic, remaining until an agreement for an extension was reached.
An outspoken critic of the Israeli government’s policies on Gaza and U.S. support for Israel, Bush was defeated by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in the August primary after voters in her district grew weary of her far-left positions.
Bush voted against the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, a signature Biden administration accomplishment, in protest after Biden’s full “Build Back Better” agenda was scaled back.
“When the President asked us to fight for his full economic agenda, I fought. We fought,” she said Thursday, with a couple of the other ‘Squad’ members in attendance.
“But for a few corporate Democrats, the Build Back Better Act would be the law of the land now. We would have stopped talking about rising inflation and instead delivered on universal pre-K and affordable childcare, a permanent, monthly child tax credit, paid leave, free school meals, investments in our caregivers, historic funding to build new affordable housing and rehabilitate crumbling housing stock, expanded Medicare benefits, taxes on billionaire corporations and the ultra-wealthy so that they can finally pay their fair share, and lastly, removing every lead pipe poisoning our communities,” Bush continued.
“We may have lost that fight, but there must be a reckoning. The November election has shown that we were right to fight with everything we had for Build Back Better. This party must do better,” she added.
Another far-left ‘Squad’ member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, also lost his reelection bid.
Meanwhile, in a vote by the House Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee last week, centrist Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia defeated another Squad member, socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, in her attempt to become the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.
According to several lawmakers who were present at the voting, Ocasio-Cortez lost the vote to Connolly 34 to 27.
The Democrats’ largest caucus, the New Democrat Coalition, supported Connolly.
“New Dems are proud to endorse our colleague, friend, and fellow New Dem Rep. Gerry Connolly for Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Rep. Connolly is a strong and talented communicator and a dedicated workhorse prepared to expertly lead the committee in defending our Democratic priorities and standing up to the Trump administration’s extremist actions. He is the right choice to advance the interests of our full caucus,” the caucus said in a statement.
“Throughout his sixteen years on the Committee, Rep. Connolly has been a courageous and formidable force fighting against extremist GOP conspiracy theories and advancing thoughtful, commonsense legislation. As we prepare for the new Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress, the Oversight Committee Democrats will play a critical role in protecting our democratic institutions and pushing back on bad faith actors. We are fully confident that Rep. Connolly will lead the committee with a no-nonsense approach and a steady hand,” the statement added.
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