US REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY is joining the powerful but obscure Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, a panel that helps shape Democratic priorities and appoints members of the House Democratic Caucus to committee seats. 

The caucus, with the full backing of New England Democrats, named Pressley to the committee, replacing Rep. Lori Trahan, who was elected co-chair of the caucus’s messaging arm in 2023. 

Pressley’s appointment signals party confidence in the third-term Boston congresswoman, who has a reputation as an outspoken progressive but also has demonstrated she is skilled at the inside political game. Her appointment also preserves Massachusetts control over the seat responsible for pushing New England representation on congressional committees.

Republicans currently have a narrow majority in the House, giving them control over the size of committees and chairmanships. The steering and policy committees of the two parties wield power behind the scenes by determining whose star gets to rise through Congress. Pressley serves on the House Oversight Committee and on the House Financial Services Committee.

“The New England delegation’s diversity of lived experiences, ideological views, and policy priorities are our strength, and I look forward to uplifting our collective voices and ensuring our region is strongly represented at every decision-making table,” Pressley said in a statement. In building up Massachusetts representation in these key posts, the delegation is “always punching above our size,” said Rep. Richard Neal.

Committee assignments have taken on even higher stakes for progressive Democrats this cycle. Several progressive incumbents have been agitated about preserving their seats and their committee positions as the conflict in Israel and Gaza deepens rifts within the party. 

Pressley occupies an unusual place in the Massachusetts delegation. She is often tied to the progressive “Squad” and burst into Congress by unseating 10-term Rep. Michael Capuano. In running for and holding elected office as the state’s first Black congresswoman, she touts a demographically outsider perspective and champions positions explicitly targeted at underrepresented groups. 

But her background as a former aide to US Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and later US Sen. John Kerry, followed by eight years as a Boston city councilor, helped build her brand as a politician skilled at working within the system she hopes to change. 

“She’s the kind of elder, in some ways, of The Squad,” author Ryan Grim told GBH News in discussing his book The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution. He said Pressley “was somebody that AOC in particular, but also the others, would go to for advice about politics, about how to legislate.”