Ocasio Cortez 2021 Primary

The chairman of the New York Democrat Party has warned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) not to challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in the 2022 Democrat primary.

Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused Senator Ted Cruz on Twitter of 'trying to get me killed'. Ms Ocasio-Cortez had called for an investigation into the stock trading app. 2 days ago  — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 28, 2021 “You haven’t even apologized for the serious physical + mental harm you contributed to from Capitol Police & custodial workers to your own fellow members of Congress,” she added. “In the meantime, you can get off my timeline & stop clout-chasing. Several Republicans are also running to unseat Ocasio-Cortez, although the district is largely Democratic. Tags Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joe Biden 2020 elections View the discussion thread.

Jay Jacobs, who served as the Democrat Party’s chairman for the Empire State from 2009 to 2012 and returned to the post in 2019, told the New York Post he believes a primary run against Schumer from Ocasio-Cortez would be driven by “ambition rather than need.”

“I think it would be a primary driven by ambition more than by need,” Jacobs said. “Chuck Schumer has been a progressive force in the state for decades. She has a constituency that admires her and supports her, and they’re in her community, and I think it would be a loss for them if she were to do that.”

Jacobs conitnued his remarks with the Post by saying that Ocasio-Cortez would “absolutley” be defeated by Schumer.

“We’ve never met. I would look forward to doing that,” Jacobs said of Ocasio-Cortez. “I am open to that at any time.”

Rumors of an Ocasio-Cortez primary run against Schumer have circled for some time. Asked earlier this year whether she would challenge Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez responded, “I don’t know.”

Ocasio-Cortez also spoke with Vanity Fair in October and suggested that she does not “know if I’m really going to be staying in the House forever.”

A native of the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez has fought for new leadership in the Democrat Party. Earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez undermined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Schumer when she said, “We need new leadership in the Democratic Party.”

In February, President Donald Trump said that Ocasio-Cortez would “kick his ass” if she ran against Schumer.

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Two leading House and Senate committees pledged to hold hearings on the recent gyrations in the stock market as lawmakers voiced bipartisan outrage at platforms that curbed trades in companies like GameStop Corp. that were fueled by the social media site Reddit.

“People on Wall Street only care about the rules when they’re the ones getting hurt. American workers have known for years the Wall Street system is broken — they’ve been paying the price,” incoming Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown said in a statement. “It’s time for the SEC and Congress to make the economy work for everyone, not just Wall Street.”

Representative Maxine Waters, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, also promised a hearing focused on recent market instability and role played by hedge funds.

While neither Brown nor Waters announced dates for their respective hearings, a rare bipartisan collection of lawmakers spoke up to criticize platforms like Robinhood Markets Inc. for limiting trading in some stocks, saying it unfairly disadvantages regular people who should be allowed to trade as freely as hedge funds.

Response of Ocasio-Cortez, Warren

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called recent trades “interesting,” and said relevant agencies should examine the issue. Progressive Democrats including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as GOP Senator Pat Toomey, said the moves merit closer regulatory scrutiny.

“It’s turned into a casino so that market manipulators come in and they drive markets up or down and make a profit on it,” Warren said of the stock market on CNBC. “The billionaires and some hedge funds are yelling because they’re not the ones, the only ones, who make money when the manipulation works.”

Toomey, who’s poised to become the top Republican on the Senate banking panel, said he’s disturbed by Robinhood and other platforms blocking trades.

“I find it very disturbing that a platform would suddenly freeze out investors,” Toomey said. “People should be free to make the investment decisions they choose.”

Impact on ‘Everyday Investors’

In announcing a plan for action, Waters noted the “long history of predatory conduct” by hedge funds, adding that “private funds preying on the pension funds of hard working Americans must be stopped.”

“I will convene a hearing to examine the recent activity around GameStop stock and other impacted stocks with a focus on short selling, online trading platforms, gamification and their systemic impact on our capital markets and retail investors,” the California lawmaker said in a statement.

Representative Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the panel, said he “wants to open up markets to everyday investors” and is “watching the GameStop issue with absolute fascination.”

“If there has been market manipulation, fraud, or any pump-and-dump schemes, that obviously needs to be fully investigated,” McHenry said.

Ocasio-Cortez, also a member of the House Financial Services Committee, tweeted earlier that “we now need to know more about @RobinhoodApp’s decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit.”

Gensler Nomination Delayed

GameStop’s volatile trading briefly pushed the stock to No. 1 on the Russell 2000 Index on Thursday, despite the trading restrictions. But shares then fell as much as 68% from their high and trading was halted for the second time on Thursday. Shares in GameStop, a retail chain that sells new and used video games, closed down 44% Thursday at $193.60.

Jared Bernstein, a member of President Joe Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the trading frenzy. But he suggested the situation was merely a symptom of broader inequality in the U.S. economy.

“For me, and for the president, where this goes is that we’re not going to measure our progress by the stock market,” Bernstein said on CNN. “You’ve got a booming stock market and you’ve got rising poverty. That is at the core of the problem that we are trying to solve, not just in the near term but lastingly.”

The Senate Banking Committee hasn’t scheduled a hearing to confirm Gary Gensler, Biden’s pick to lead the SEC, leaving the agency with an acting chair for weeks — or potentially even months.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she didn’t have specific information about Gensler’s confirmation timetable, as the Senate works through Biden’s cabinet-level nominees first.

Democrats assumed control of the Senate last week, and confirmation votes have moved slowly as Democratic and Republican leaders negotiate how to organize committees.

“The president has spoken about the urgency of getting his team in place to address the range of issues we’re facing and I don’t think that would be any different for Mr. Gensler,” Psaki said, adding that Biden is being briefed by his economic team.

Ocasio Cortez Primary

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