{"id":7914,"date":"2025-04-28T16:15:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T16:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=7914"},"modified":"2025-04-28T16:15:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T16:15:58","slug":"oversight-top-democrat-connolly-stepping-back-saying-his-cancer-has-returned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=7914","title":{"rendered":"Oversight top Democrat Connolly ‘stepping back,’ saying his cancer has returned"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rep. Gerry Connolly, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, announced he will \u201csoon\u201d step down from his role and won\u2019t run for reelection because his cancer has returned.<\/p>\n

“The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress. I will be stepping back as Ranking Member of the Oversight Committee soon,” Connolly said in a statement. “With no rancor and a full heart, I move into this final chapter full of pride in what we’ve accomplished together over 30 years.”<\/p>\n

Connolly, 75, who was first elected in 2009, defeated Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 35, for the committee chair in December as the younger representative attempted to bring in a new generation of leadership.<\/p>\n

Connolly announced he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in November.<\/p>\n

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Rep. Gerry Connolly questions witnesses during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing titled “A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors” in Washington, March 5, 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“When I announced my diagnosis six months ago, I promised transparency,” he said in his statement Monday. “After grueling treatments, we’ve learned that the cancer, while initially beaten back, has now returned. I\u2019ll do everything possible to continue to represent you and thank you for your grace.”<\/p>\n

Connolly has served on the Oversight Committee since his first term and has led Democrats on the subcommittee on government operations since 2013. He won the chair vote, 131-84, according to multiple Democratic sources, cementing his role in one of the most high-profile positions in Washington to combat the Trump administration and a unified Republican majority in Congress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Gerry Connolly, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, announced he will \u201csoon\u201d step down from his role and won\u2019t run for reelection because his cancer has returned. “The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress. I will be stepping back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7916,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914\/revisions\/7916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}