Baltimore U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume announced Thursday he’s running for a key committee spot in Congress as the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, according to a news release.

The seat became open after Democratic Virginia Rep. Gerald E. Connolly died on May 21 from esophageal cancer but had previously announced plans to step down from the role.

Mfume’s office did not make him available for an interview. But the Democrat published a letter mourning the loss of his colleague and asking his caucus for their support.

“The dismantling of our democracy at the hands of the Trump administration and his congressional enablers demands Committee leadership that meets this moment with vigor, experience, principle and resolve,“ he wrote. ”I am prepared to meet that moment."

Democrats are in the minority in the House of Representatives. So a step up wouldn’t necessarily win Mfume any additional sway, but it would put him in a sweet spot to take over as committee chair if their party takes back the House next November.

What does the committee do?

In the U.S. system of checks and balances, Oversight is the House’s body tasked with investigations, government efficiency, and watching over procurement and agencies such as the U.S. Postal Service and the Census Bureau. The panel also oversees municipal activities of Washington, D.C.

Noteworthy Oversight investigations have included the Sept. 11 attacks, the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, steroid use in Major League Baseball and the origins and response to COVID-19.

What is a ranking member?

The ranking member is a committee’s top minority leader and spearheads the policy and political opposition to the majority party.

The GOP currently controls the House and holds all committee chair seats.

Why does Mfume want the job?

It’s a chess move.

A ranking member of any House committee right now is the highest spot a Democrat can get in a chamber controlled by Republicans.

Ranking members get a little more attention during committee hearings, but it doesn’t grant a Democrat any more power than sitting in a regular seat.

Those ranking members, however, will lay in wait, hoping their party wins back the House majority in the 2026 elections.

“Under Democratic control, this committee would have a very prominent role in leading investigations of the Trump Administration,” said David Karol, an associate professor with the department of government and politics at the University of Maryland. “And the chair would set the agenda and get lots of attention.”

Do ranking members have power?

Not much, according to Karol.

They’re given some conciliatory privileges, like getting to ask the second question in a hearing and choosing the minority party committee staffers.

“It is a visible role,” he said. “In practice, it doesn’t amount to much power, but it would be a step up for Mfume.”

How is the next ranking member chosen?

The election will be held by secret ballot on June 24, according to Punchbowl News.

What are Mfume’s chances?

It depends what Democrats want.

Mfume is up against some stiff competition. He’s one of four people expected to run, according to Politico, and in a party that’s looking to a younger generation of leaders, he’d be the oldest of the bunch and not the most senior member of the committee.

Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Jasmine Crockett of Texas are also expected to run.

Despite a long-standing debate to make it less important, seniority — meaning tenure in Congress, and possibly age — still has pull among Democrats.

Connolly, 75 and a 16-year veteran Congress member, won his December bid over a well-known Democratic firebrand from New York with an enormous national following, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

What committees is Mfume already on?

Mfume already sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and holds a ranking member position on one of its many subcommittees. He also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mfume is also a member of a host of congressional caucuses, including the Ukraine Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus, on which he served as chair from 1993-95 during his first run in Congress.

How long has he been in Congress?

This is Mfume’s second stint in Congress. First elected in 1986, the Morgan State University grad and former Baltimore City Council member won the seat vacated by Parren J. Mitchell, Maryland’s first Black member of Congress.

Mfume served until 1996, when he stepped down to run the country’s oldest civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Long-serving Baltimore Rep. Elijah Cummings took his place after winning a special election. And after Cummings died in 2019, voters overwhelmingly welcomed Mfume back, electing him to represent the 7th Congressional District covering Baltimore and parts of Baltimore County.

So who is the Maryland delegation’s most powerful member?

“Normally, senators are more important than all but a handful of representatives,” Karol said.

That puts Sen. Chris Van Hollen as senior member, then freshman Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, at the top of Karol’s list. He’d rank Rep. Jamie Raskin next among the delegation’s House reps. Raskin serves as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

As a member of the GOP, Rep. Andy Harris has more pull than most others right now. But he has recently set himself apart bucking President Donald Trump’s budget plans by holding out for deeper spending cuts.

“Andy Harris is also in prominent roles as chair of the Freedom Caucus and an appropriations subcommittee chair. But Harris has been less in the mainstream of his party — at least until recently — than Raskin,” Karol said.