On Tuesday, Democrats in Washington, D.C., elected U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California as the new ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, making him the first out gay immigrant to lead the party on one of Congress’ most powerful and combative panels.

House Democrats made the announcement official in a post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly before 11 a.m. Eastern. “House Democrats elect @RepRobertGarcia the Ranking Member of the @OversightDems,” they wrote.

At 47, Garcia is not just the youngest Democrat to lead a major committee — he’s also one of the most outspoken. A former Long Beach mayor, an immigrant from Peru, and an unapologetically queer political figure, Garcia has repeatedly called out far-right extremism and Trump-era authoritarianism. Now, he steps into one of the party’s most high-profile roles at a time when the Oversight Committee has become a central theater for Republican grievance politics.

Garcia’s election follows the death of Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, who led Democrats on the committee until stepping down this spring amid cancer treatment. With Connolly’s passing in May, Democrats faced a pivotal choice: maintain the old guard or signal a generational shift. They chose the latter. Garcia’s office did not immediately respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.

Garcia secured the Steering Committee’s recommendation on the first ballot — a surprise to many — and swept the full caucus vote after Reps. Kweisi Mfume of Maryland and Jasmine Crockett of Texas withdrew from the race. His final challenger, acting ranking member, Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch, was unable to match the momentum behind Garcia’s bid.

It wasn’t just about age. Garcia framed his candidacy around lived experience and executive skill, pointing to his tenure running a port city during a global pandemic and his confrontations with far-right members in committee hearings. He positioned himself not just as a fighter but as someone who was already in the ring.

Garcia is the only Democrat who sits on every committee far-right Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene does. He’s matched her culture-war provocations with fact-based, often viral, rebukes. When Greene brandished nude photos of Hunter Biden during a 2023 hearing, Garcia responded in February with an image of Elon Musk — deadpan calling it a “dick pic” — to spotlight hypocrisy and the spectacle that Oversight had become under GOP control during a Department of Government Efficiency subcommittee hearing.

Earlier this year, he led a fact-finding trip to El Salvador to investigate the deportation of gay asylum-seeker Andry Hernández Romero to the CECOT mega-prison after Romero came to the United States legally to attend an appointment the U.S. government gave him. In May, Garcia appealed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to request a sign of life to send to Romero’s mother, but Noem refused to engage.

Garcia also called out transphobic South Carolina U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace during a May hearing in which she sat as he outlined her bigoted actions.

Born in Lima and raised in Southern California, Garcia became a citizen in his twenties, earned a doctorate in education, and eventually became Long Beach’s first out LGBTQ+ mayor. When he arrived in Congress in 2023, he was the first out gay immigrant elected to the House. Now, in his second term, he holds one of the chamber’s most visible Democratic roles.

Garcia will serve as a counter to the Oversight agenda of Republican Chair U.S. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who has utilized the committee to advance investigations aligned with President Donald Trump’s political interests, including attacks on former President Joe Biden’s family, public health officials, transgender students, and federal workers.

LGBTQ+ political leaders immediately celebrated the vote as a watershed moment. The Human Rights Campaign issued congratulations on social media. Equality PAC — co-chaired by gay New York Rep. Ritchie Torres and gay House Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Rep. Mark Takano of California — said Garcia’s election was both an institutional milestone and a powerful symbol of what pro-equality leadership can look like. 

In a statement, Takano and Torres said Garcia’s new role “marks an historic achievement and a powerful moment for LGBTQ representation in Congress,” noting that he joins lesbian Minnesota U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee and Takano as one of three openly LGBTQ+ members now leading Democrats on House committees.

They added that Oversight “plays a critical role in holding Trump and his administration accountable, protecting democracy, and defending the rights and freedoms of all Americans,” and that Garcia “has been a fearless voice for truth and justice.”