But the debate has nevertheless provided a preview of what will likely become a familiar dynamic in the early months of the 116th Congress: Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive colleagues will demand bold reforms; other Democratic lawmakers will praise their zeal, but encourage them to rein it in a little. It’s an important dynamic to understand. The Democrats don’t have a huge majority, so just a few votes could make or break party unity on legislation.

Even the response to Ocasio-Cortez’s social-media activity fits this pattern. Part of her popularity is centered on her presence online, where she’s been dutifully documenting new-member orientation: On Instagram, she’s shared her discovery of the underground tunnel system that connects buildings on Capitol Hill, and she’s introduced her followers to members of her “squad,” which includes other progressive freshmen, such as Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, Massachusetts’s Ayanna Pressley, and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar. Ocasio-Cortez can also be counted on to forcefully respond to her critics on Twitter, including late last week when she chastised a Washington Examiner writer for scrutinizing her appearance.

Read: How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s plain black jacket became a controversy

While some of the Democrats I spoke with praised her “transparent” and “refreshing” approach, other staffers were worried about the potential downsides to being that present on social media. “She’s so focused on truly Instagramming every single thing that, aside from the obvious suspects in her friendship circle, she’s not taking the time to capitalize on building relationships with members as much as she should,” said one staffer for a representative on the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Chakrabarti’s response to this strain of criticism is that Ocasio-Cortez is doing what she was elected to do. “The job of an elected official is to communicate, to talk with constituents, to talk with the people of America, and I think Alexandria is excellent at doing that,” he said. Other progressives I spoke with told me they hope she keeps it up. “I see a lot of members who are idealistic and starry-eyed and [then] they get beaten down by the system,” said Dan Riffle, the communications director for Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison. “My hope is that doesn’t happen to her—that she keeps being the outsider radical that she is, finding new ways to do things, rather than trying to work within the system.”

Nothing, though, puts the unity of the Democratic caucus at risk as much as a recent pledge from Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib to primary other members of Congress. Less than two weeks after Election Day, Ocasio-Cortez announced in a press call, on Saturday, that the two will be joining with Justice Democrats to help recruit working-class challengers to take on more conservative Democrats. Justice Democrats calls the campaign #OurTime, and it’s asking its activists across the country to suggest possible challengers for House incumbents who are “demographically and ideologically out-of-touch with their districts.” “We need new leaders, period,” Chakrabarti said on the press call. “We gotta primary folks.”