When it comes to operations within the Democratic party, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her “squad” filled with like-minded hard-left radicals are pretty used to getting their way, but it would appear that Joe Biden isn’t interested in coddling their every demand.

In fact, he may be showing defiance.

Back in November, the “Justice Democrats” circulated a petition that opposed and denounced Bruce Reed, a longtime aide of Biden’s who is being placed within his administration. Biden is looking to make Reed his deputy chief of staff.

Despite AOC and her hard-left allies openly wishing Reed gone, Biden is pushing forward with him according to Fox News.

“Putting someone in the administration who will prioritize paying down the deficit ahead of all other concerns in charge is a recipe for cutting our earned benefits and turning the COVID recession into a depression,” the Justice Democrats’ petition read. “Rejecting Reed will be a major test for the soul of the Biden presidency.”

“Joe Biden must not repeat Obama’s mistake,” the Justice Democrats continued. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ran on strong promises to protect and expand Social Security.”

Reed’s crime is that, at one point, he proposed massive cuts to social security and medicare during Obama’s Bowles-Simpson commission. The petition itself was created by the newest member of “The Squad,” Representative-elect Cori Bush and bears the names of current squad members including AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib.

Bruce Reed helped develop the '94 Crime Bill, pushed broken windows policing & cuts to Social Security & Medicaid.

We want an administration that prioritizes programs that protect ALL of us. Mr. Reed is not someone our communities trust—sign our petition:https://t.co/9GS89aASqF

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) November 24, 2020

If the Biden administration is serious about protecting Medicare and Social Security, they must not appoint one of the biggest champions of cuts to lead their budget agency.

Join me, @justicedems, & our progressive coalition in saying no to deficit hawks: https://t.co/0BjuQj5dwm

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 24, 2020

As Fox News points out, wanting to get the deficit under control is just one of Reed’s sins:

There are also other elements of Reed’s past likely to upset the left. The Intercept reported in January that Reed previously ran a think tank where one author argued for partial privatization of Social Security. The same think tank also published a column promoting the invasion of Iraq, the Intercept reported.

The progressive publication The Young Turks, meanwhile, this month published a story critical of Reed for his alleged ties to Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

This signals an interesting development within the Democrat party.

AOC and her ilk have seemingly begun pushing for a changing of the old guard and openly declaring that the Democrat Party of the past’s time is up. The old guard, in return, seems to be snubbing the hard-left in various ways. The tug of war happening within the party is apparent.

(READ: AOC Openly Calls for Putting Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi Out to Pasture, Calls for “Power Shift”)

It’s doubtful that AOC and the hard-left won’t respond to this rejection in some way. While the old guard of the Democrat may still have control over the party, the clock is running out for each of them. Meanwhile, the hard-left politicians entering the party have an abundance of time and an overwhelming sense of radicalism pushing them to do whatever they want here and now.

The struggle within the party will be apparent but quiet. It’s unlikely the mainstream media will report too much on any internal struggles, though I sincerely doubt the likes of AOC will be quiet about how she feels about her fellow Democrats who defy her. This may cause the conflicts to devolve into an all-out civil war within the Democrat party.

The question is, who will be left standing went the smoke clears and how will Republicans use it to their advantage.