Key facts
- Waters, 88, is the long-serving top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.
- Waters promised in the letter to target affordable housing, junk fees, medical debt and credit reporting.
- Sean Casten, 54, a fellow committee Democrat, announced on Thursday he was seeking the gavel.
Maxine Waters, the long-serving top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, asked fellow Democratic lawmakers on Friday to return her to the committee chair, according to a letter Reuters reported for the first time.
"It has never been more important to have a proven, effective and innovative leader on the Committee on Financial Services to fight back. I am that leader, and I respectfully ask for your support," Waters said in the letter.
In the letter, Waters promised to target affordable housing, "junk fees," President Donald Trump's attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, medical debt and credit reporting. The report said many of those policy areas had underpinned the Democrats' economic message in this week's midterm elections.
Waters, 88, is campaigning to fend off a challenge from fellow committee Democrat Sean Casten, 54, who on Thursday officially announced he was seeking the gavel. The report said her party plans to challenge the Trump administration's economic agenda next year.