<p><strong>As reported by <em>The Hill</em>: </strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">A new policy introduced by leading House Democrats seeks to boost incumbents&#8217; chances of retaining their seats by keeping challengers away from the party&#8217;s campaign arm. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Under the new policy, <em><strong>any consultants working for candidates challenging a sitting Democratic member of Congress would be blocked from working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee</strong></em> (DCCC).</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Consultants who promise not to work with said candidates will be added to a list of approved vendors eligible to work for the DCCC. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The policy also specifies that any vendor working with the DCCC be owned or partly owned by underrepresented groups (such as woman and minorities) OR have demonstrated “a sustained commitment to promoting diversity.” </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Freshmen lawmakers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) see the policy as a “blacklist” designed to rein in the Progressive Left, but </span><span class="s1">DCCC veterans insist the policy is nothing more than an old rule that was never put on paper (until now). </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Keeping the House requires the DCCC to focus on shoring up incumbents and challenging Republicans in red and purple districts, not battling in blue districts,” explains a former DCCC official. “It’s extremely difficult to keep that focus if the committee is constantly being pulled into Dem-on-Dem battles.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">In reality, few consultants who do significant business with the DCCC work for insurgent candidates. The only major example from last year’s midterms was the polling firm Lake Research Partners, who worked for AOC.</span></p>
<p><strong>The policy is already making some would-be candidates question their bids. </strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Take Marie Newman, for example. Newman is a Democratic activist who last year came close to unseating Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL). </span><span class="s1">Newman says the new policy is a “consideration” as she decides whether to challenge Lipinski again.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“When you’re going to those lengths to ensure that incumbents, no matter who they are, stay in office, that feels like overreach,” says Newman. “The policy feels like overreach to me, because it doesn’t feel like it’s entirely democratic, small d.”</span></p>
<p>Ocasio-Cortez has already asked her supporters<span class="s1"> to “pause” donations to the DCCC and instead give money to endangered Democrats. The request garnered $90,000 in the first day.</span></p>