Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has decided not to seek the top Democratic seat on the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — a move that’s stoking speculation she’s clearing the decks for a 2028 presidential run.

The decision sets up a generational clash inside the Democratic Party, as older, entrenched lawmakers like Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) square off against a younger, more radical wing eager to pull the party further left on policy and rhetoric.

Lynch, who briefly served as interim ranking member after the late Rep. Gerry Connolly’s cancer diagnosis, has made clear he wants the position full-time. But with the Oversight panel stacked with ambitious younger members, his path is uncertain. Multiple Democrats were reportedly prepared to step aside if Ocasio-Cortez entered the race.

The progressive firebrand once sat on the Oversight Committee, but left for the Energy and Commerce panel after failing to oust Connolly in a previous leadership bid. She admitted last month she wouldn’t try again, citing the party’s rigid seniority system that all but shuts out younger members from leadership roles.

Her retreat from the committee fight comes as she’s embroiled in a high-profile ethics scandal over her infamous “Tax The Rich” appearance at the 2021 Met Gala — where she accepted more than $3,700 worth of luxury goods but paid less than $1,000 for them.

The House Ethics Committee determined Ocasio-Cortez violated House rules, laws, and standards of conduct by accepting gifts and delaying repayment — including giving her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, a free ticket to the $35,000-per-head gala.

Though the panel stopped short of issuing formal sanctions, it ordered her to reimburse an additional $2,733.28 to the designer and donate $250 to cover Roberts’ dinner. The report detailed months of unpaid invoices, with some vendors threatening legal action, and revealed that her former campaign manager, Rebecca Rodriguez, tried to slash the dress rental price from $1,300 to $300 and left a $477 hairstylist bill unpaid for nearly six months.

The committee noted that Vogue editor Anna Wintour personally invited Ocasio-Cortez and her boyfriend as guests of Vogue — not the official host of the gala — and even directed Brother Vellies, a designer known for shoes and handbags, to create the now-notorious dress.

Despite the panel’s conclusion that she didn’t “intentionally” underpay, the episode underscores the growing divide between Ocasio-Cortez’s anti-rich rhetoric and her willingness to indulge in elite perks.

With her stepping aside from Oversight leadership, the race to succeed Connolly is now wide open — but the bigger question for Democrats may be whether AOC is quietly positioning herself for a much larger stage in 2028.