AOC was reportedly denied a coveted seat in the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday. The seat was given to Rep. Kathleen Rice instead. According to a report from Politico, “Rice and Ocasio-Cortez have been battling behind the scenes for weeks to secure one of the few open seats on the exclusive committee, which oversees everything from health care policy to climate issues.”

There was a private meeting of the Steering and Policy Committee during which the Democrats had to choose between the two representatives. They held a secret ballot, which resulted in the seat going to Rice.

The report went on to say that, “The panel launched into an intense round of speeches on each candidate, with several Democrats speaking up to lobby against Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman member and social media star who is seen as a political threat by many of the caucus’s moderates for her far-left policies. On the video call, several Democrats called out Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to help liberal challengers take out their own incumbents, as well as her refusal to pay party campaign dues.”

It’s no secret that there is an ongoing rift between the two sides of the Democratic party. On one side, there is the establishment-connected wing of the party represented by the likes of Pelosi. Then there are the more radical members who are characterized by AOC, Ilhan Omar, and the rest of the “Squad.” Many observers believe that the only thing uniting these factions is their hatred of President Donald Trump.

During an interview on Wednesday, AOC called out for new leaders of the party. “I do think that we need new leadership in the Democratic Party,” she said. “And so even conservative members of the party, who think Nancy Pelosi is far too liberal for them, don’t necessarily have any viable alternatives, which is why whenever there’s a challenge, it kind of collapses. And that is, I think, the result of just many years of power being concentrated in leadership with a lack of real grooming of the next generation of leadership.”

The establishment Democrats, on the other hand, are not so enthusiastic with the prospect of AOC and her “squad” leading them. AOC has made some controversial remarks and decisions in the past that have left others questioning her intelligence and competence to be a member of the House of Representatives, let alone the leader of the party.