Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Eli | Email Lauren Days before the 2020 Iowa caucus, a New York Magazine reporter asked Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ about the role she might play in a hypothetical JOE BIDEN administration. “Oh God,” she told DAVID FREEDLANDER, who noted that “a groan” accompanied her response. “In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are.” It’s funny what time and shifting political dynamics can do. Biden, who vowed in 2020 to be a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders, is on the cusp of seeking a second term. And he is employing that next generation, and Ocasio-Cortez in particular, as his own Praetorian guard. In an ironic twist worthy of ALANIS MORISSETTE, AOC, the sharp-tongued progressive who has often bemoaned the type of politics Biden has practiced and at times opposed his agenda, is now tasked with parrying and blunting the political pain Republicans hope to inflict on the president. Appointed to Democrats’ No. 2 slot on the House Oversight Committee, as POLITICO scooped last week, AOC will be the first line of defense for the Biden White House, responding in real time to broadsides from Chairman JAMES COMER (R-Ky..), Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) and others. Inside the White House, top aides have privately expressed enthusiasm over AOC’s appointment, believing she can provide deft defense to inquiries into Covid-19 relief dollars and HUNTER BIDEN’s “laptop from hell.” White House aides also are excited by — and mentioned by name — others on the panel playing similar roles: Reps. KATIE PORTER (D-Calif.), the whiteboard-wielding protege of SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.), Gen-Z-er MAXWELL FROST (D-Fla.), and Rep. DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-N.Y.), who helped lead DONALD TRUMP’s first impeachment. It led some to dub the Democratic members, including ranking member JAMIE RASKIN (D-Md.), “the Truth Squad.” But among that crew, the most excitement surrounds AOC. There is hope that her debate skills and huge social media following (one senior administration official called her 13.4 million followers on Twitter and 8.6 million followers on Instagram an “unmatched platform”) will benefit the White House. She’s also a welcome addition to a limited surrogate operation that has leaned heavily on IAN SAMS, the spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, to defuse the pressure from the ongoing investigation into Biden’s possession of classified documents. ERIC SCHULTZ, who was BARACK OBAMA’s principal deputy press secretary, recalled how congressional allies played a critical role when Republicans took control of the House in 2011 and launched myriad investigations (Solyndra, Benghazi, and Fast and Furious). “They are the first lines of defense,” he said. “Having someone like AOC in the catbird seat has huge value. She’s obviously a brilliant communicator and any time you have someone with her talent in your corner, it’s meaningful.” During the Oversight committee’s first hearing Wednesday, AOC made a quick display of the role she plans to play. She dismissed the Republicans’ investigation into alleged waste, fraud and abuse in Covid-19 spending programs as an exercise in “rank partisanship,” noting how Comer and his colleagues didn’t seem interested in documented fraud cases reported in red states. State employees in Comer’s home state of Kentucky, she noted, applied for unemployment benefits while still employed by the state. "None of these states have been put under investigation by this committee," she said. On the House floor Thursday, she kept going, delivering a blistering response after the GOP voted to remove Rep. ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee in response, they said, to the Muslim lawmaker’s past statements about Israel that were criticized as anti-Semitic. “I had a member of this body and the Republican caucus threaten my life and you all rewarded him with one of the most prestigious committee assignments in this Congress,” she said, referring to Rep. PAUL GOSAR (R-Ariz.), as Democratic members in the chamber applauded. “Don’t tell me this is about consistency. Don’t tell me this is about a condemnation of anti-Semitic remarks … This is about targeting women of color.” For some in the West Wing, AOC’s leaning into her new role as a Biden ally isn’t totally out of left field. One senior administration official pointed to her involvement on the Unity Task Force linking Biden and BERNIE SANDERS supporters following the 2020 primary. “We established a good relationship with her,” the official said. “Biden aides view her as a strong member for Oversight.” MESSAGE US —Are you AOC? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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