KC’s Cleaver respects elder ‘giants’ - but don’t Democrats need younger leaders? | Opinion

There’s a bright group of young Democrats in Congress rising to take leadership of a party desperately working to figure out its response to President Donald Trump, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says.

Just maybe not quite yet.

In the burgeoning fight between Old Democrats and Young Democrats for leadership of the party, the Kansas City congressman this week put himself on the side of the Old Democrats. The youngsters trying to jump the line, he told Axios, “sometimes they take it too far.”

“We have a large number of young people in the Democratic caucus,” Cleaver told the publication, “and I would challenge anybody … (to) stand toe-to-toe with Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Jim Clyburn, Steny Hoyer, all in their mid or above mid-80s,” he said.

This isn’t an idle conversation.

House Oversight Committee vacancy

There’s the short-term issue: Cleaver was addressing a vacancy on the House Oversight Committee. The ranking Democrat on the panel — Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, a 75-year-old with esophageal cancer — is stepping down just months after beating the much younger, more glamorous New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the post.

Ocasio-Cortez is considering a fresh run to lead Democrats on the committee. Cleaver suggested to Axios he is more inclined to back Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch, who is a relatively spry 70.

There is also the bigger picture.

Democrats have been badly wounded in recent years by the failure of old-guard leaders to move on when it’s time. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg refused to give up her seat during Barack Obama’s presidency — despite her age and history of cancer — paving the way for Trump to appoint her replacement during his first term.

More recently, President Joe Biden paved the way for Trump’s return to the White House by not giving up his reelection campaign until it was too obvious to the entire country that his age had taken a toll.

Is the country better off because post-retirement age Democrats keep refusing to make room for fresh blood?

Are Democrats?

I don’t think so.

Pelosi: Time for ‘new generation’

Cleaver, 80, sees the issue differently.

“I have always believed that young Americans create the change they want to see in the world,” he said in a statement after I reached out to his staff, “but I also believe our elders who have walked the path before us have some necessary wisdom that can help guide us along the way.”

He mentioned some younger House Democrats he had mentored or otherwise supported in their quest to move up the ranks, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Rep. Pete Aguilar, who serves as leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the way they have conducted themselves in this disturbingly dangerous time,” Cleaver said.

But, Cleaver added, there also needs to be room for experience.

“As we continue the fight for our freedoms and democracy, we make a mistake in dismissing the giants who have fought these battles before us and who can provide vital institutional knowledge in the years ahead,” he said in the statement. “In the fight of our life, I’d rather have a few giants standing with me than sitting at home.”

It’s not an either-or choice, though.

Pelosi stepped down from leadership at the end of 2022, saying, “the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus.” She remains in Congress, though, exercising influence behind the scenes — she was a key figure in getting Biden to step away from the campaign — while making room for the now-54-year-old Jeffries to serve as leader and face of the party.

The wisdom that comes with age and experience is valuable, no doubt.

So is the wisdom that knows when it is time to make room for and encourage a new generation of leadership.

This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 5:08 AM.