Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) launched a bid Tuesday to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight and Accountability Committee in the next Congress, a high-profile seat that will be on the front lines of the polarized fight over President-elect Trump and his promised second-term agenda. The position is soon to be vacated by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is seeking the ranking member position on the House Judiciary Committee.  In a letter to fellow Democrats, Connolly said he’s ready to take on Republicans under a second Trump administration, when the GOP will control all the levers of power in Washington and Democrats will lean heavily on combative opposition figures at the committee level.  “We must expose and dismantle bad faith Republican efforts to promote conspiracy theories, intimidate witnesses, and undermine democratic processes,” Connolly wrote. “I've done this effectively in my work on the Committee in opposing the impeachment of President Biden and while serving as an appointee on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” Connolly also argued that his experience on the Oversight panel, where he’s served for 16 years, makes him particularly well suited for the job. His past status as a vulnerable front-liner, he added, makes him sensitive to the kitchen-table concerns of voters in volatile economic times. And he’s also touting his longtime focus on protecting government workers — a sizable constituency in his northern Virginia district — which has taken on new significance given Trump’s promises to slash the federal workforce.  “While civil service protections and reform may not typically draw much attention, they have become critically important in the face of Republican efforts to replace more than 50,000 federal employees with Trump loyalists,” Connolly wrote. “Recognizing the serious threat posed by President Trump’s Schedule F initiative, I have worked tirelessly to build bipartisan support for legislation to block President Trump’s plan to purge the federal workforce.” It’s not the first time Connolly has sought the seat.  Two years ago, after former Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) lost a primary contest to Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), three senior Democrats on the committee — Connolly, Raskin and Rep. Stephen Lynch (Mass.) — vied to replace her. Raskin prevailed, but on Monday the Maryland lawmaker announced he’s challenging Nadler for the ranking member spot on the Judiciary Committee — another powerful post that will play an outsized role in the coming battle over Trump’s second-term policies. Because they’re in the House minority, Democrats will lack the authority to dictate the agenda of committees in the next Congress. But they already like their chances of flipping the chamber in the 2026 midterms — a notoriously tough cycle for the party of the incumbent president — which would put the ranking members of both Oversight and Judiciary in place to seize gavels and play a much more active role in the oversight of Trump during his final two years in the White House.   Connolly is the first Democrat to announce a formal run at replacing Raskin. It’s unclear if he’ll face any challengers for the position.  Connolly’s bid comes less than a month after the eight-term Democrat announced a diagnosis of esophagus cancer. In a note to constituents shortly after he was elected to a ninth term, he said he would begin treatment of chemotherapy and immunotherapy “right away.”   “Cancer can be tough. But so am I,” he said. “I will attack this the only way I know how — with Irish fight and humor.”