With Rep. Eliot Engel facing apparent defeat in the New York primary, Democrats have already begun jostling behind closed doors to r🎶eplace the chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, multiple sources told The Post.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, one of Engel’s New York congressional colleagues, is expected to make a play for the gavel along with Rep. Brad Sherman of California — a move made all the more awkward by the fact Engel has refused to concede the race, in which he trails by 10,183 votes w🌸ith 10,710 mail-in ballots yet to be counted.
“The body is not even dead yet,” said a source close to the New York congressional delegation, adding, “Meeks is trying to build support.”
Sherman is next in line to chair the panel bu🦋t is expected to face a stiff challenge from Meeks, who has the backing of the influential Black Congressional Caucus.
“Greg has been on the Foreign Relations Committee the whole time he’s been in the Ho𒁏use,” said another source close to the Nꦡew York congressional delegation.
“He’s done a lot working with Caribbean countries, South America and the South Pacific,” the source added, noting the Queens lawmaker’s work on helping eradicate the drug trade in Colombia.
The source noted that Sherman has a year🍒 or two more seniority on the committee but added, “There’s not enough people of color in leadership.”
However, some of Meeks’ foreign trips have raised eyebrows, including a junket to Azerbaijan in 2013 that was paid for by the country’s state-owned oil company.
Engel, from The Bronx, has refused to concede the race for New York’s 16th Congressional District almost one week after his primary challenger, Jamaal Bowman, a Justice Democrats-backed former middle school principal, declared victory.
Despite Bowman’s large lead, Engel’s camp is holding out hope that mail-in ballots can save him. He would need nearly every single mail-in vote to go his way.
Whoever is picked for the top job will play a crucial role is helping set America’s foreign policy, particularly toward Israel, and will perform oversight of President Trump’s foreign agenda, which is currently being roiled by news of an alleged Russia-Taliban bounty on US troops.
📖Sherman made a play for the c💛hairmanship in 2012 but was defeated.
Another Democratic congressional source noted that Sherman isn’t as well liked among his Democratic colleagues and said a black chairman was needed as the nation experiences a powerful reckoning on race in America.
“In this era, nobody is better suited than Greg Meeks to hold Trump accountable and begin the arduous process of repairing our relationships abroad,” the source said, noting Trump’s frosty relationship with some of America’s allies.
“He’s smart, well liked and has a tidal wave of support from the 54-member Congressional Black Caucus and others throughout Capitol Hill,” he added.
“There’s no question Greg Meeks should be the first black chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”
Neither Sherman nor Meeks’ office responded to requests for comment.