U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the 77-year-old dean of New York’s congressional delegation, plans to step down as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee next term, succumbing to calls for generational change as his party prepares to confront a second Trump administration, reports Nicholas Fandos for The New York Times. Nadler had faced a direct challenge from a close ally, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, 61, who apparently had secured the votes necessary to defeat Nadler. Raskin, a former constitutional law professor elected in 2016, rapidly made his name as a silver-tongued antagonist to Trump, serving as the lead impeachment prosecutor against Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That more vigorous leadership may be necessary next year, since the Judiciary Committee is likely to be at the center of some of Washington’s largest fights, including Trump’s vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, overhaul the Justice Department and any attempt by Republicans to curtail abortion rights.
Furious over being challenged, Nadler had initially fought to hold the position he has held since 2017. But on Wednesday, he conceded that he did not have a path to victory and endorsed Mr. Raskin to replace him in a letter to colleagues. People close to Nadler said he had been deeply hurt by the push to replace him. A 17-term lawmaker from Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Nadler has long been a leading liberal voice in the House on issues including gay rights and surveillance powers. He won the top Democratic seat on the Judiciary Committee in 2017, after decades of toiling, and played a role in two impeachments of Trump in 2019 and 2021. But Nadler had never been known as a particularly sharp strategist, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi sidelined him from key parts of the impeachment fight. Many of his colleagues had begun quietly fretting that Nadler was not up to the task this time. He often reads from written remarks during committee meetings and has been known to fall asleep in meetings.
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