Links to Membership Lists of Ideological Factions within the Two Major Parties in the U.S. House of Representatives

     The following list consists of links to the membership lists of the formal and informal ideological C.M.O.s (Congressional Member Organizations) in the United States House of Representatives. Some of the links below lead to information on how to contact these representatives.

     U.S. Senators may be listed as well. Readers should keep in mind that the Senate and House have their own separate organizations to represent these ideological factions. For example, a Republican U.S. Senator cannot become a member of the House Freedom Caucus because its membership is only for U.S. Representatives in the lower house.

     I would like readers to take note of the following two facts, which the below information makes clear:

     1) Not all so-called "Tea Party politicians" are (or were) formal members of the Tea Party Caucus in the House;

     2) The Tea Party Caucus appears to be defunct, so it's possible that it has no members anymore;

     3) The Republican Party only has two formal ideological C.M.O.s;

     4) The "Justice Democrats" is not a formal ideological C.M.O. in the House of Representatives, nor are the Democratic Socialists of America (D.S.A.); and

     5) The Populist Caucus of the Democratic Party, the Main Street Caucus, and the Republican Liberty Caucus, no longer exist.

     It's also important to notice how much influence the Ripon Society has within the Republican Party, despite the fact that it is not a formal caucus. The Ripon Society's centrist stance is arguably more liberal-friendly and libertarian than most of the Republican Party's membership, but it should still concern us that this public policy organization has a congressional advisory board that is made up of one-third of the set of currently serving Republican U.S. Representatives (about 70 out of 211).

     It should concern us because these 70 House members are working on the interest of the Ripon Society as an interest group, without the group being officially recognized as the ideological faction within the Republican House membership that it is.

     Readers should also note that some caucuses, such as the Tea Party Caucus, are (or were) open to members of both parties.

     Also, there are many caucuses in the U.S. House of Representatives which are non-ideological, that are not included below. Additionally, some House caucuses could be argued to be ideological, but were not included here because their ideological bent or angle is not immediately obvious.
     Lists of caucuses in the U.S. House of Representatives are available at the links immediately below:
     http://ballotpedia.org/List_of_caucuses_in_the_United_States_Congress
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucuses_of_the_United_States_Congress

     

REPUBLICAN GROUPS

House Republican Conference
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Republican_Conference



Formal Republican Party Factions/Caucuses

Republican Study Committee
     http://rsc-banks.house.gov/about/membership

House Freedom Caucus
     http://ballotpedia.org/House_Freedom_Caucus




Republican Ideological Factions Which Are Not Formal U.S. House Caucuses, But Are Similar Enough to Caucuses to Mention


Tea Party Caucus
     (Effectively defunct, although several current U.S. House members were Tea Party Caucus members recently)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_Caucus

Tea Party politicians
     (includes list of House members, although not all are formal members of the House Tea Party Caucus)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_politicians_affiliated_with_the_Tea_Party_movement

Main Street Partnership
     (the Main Street Caucus was dissolved in 2019, although many current U.S. House members were Main Street Caucus members until that occurred just two years ago)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Main_Street_Partnership
     http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/members
     http://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753404051/meltdown-on-main-street-inside-the-breakdown-of-the-gops-moderate-wing


Ripon Society
     (public policy organization with a congressional advisory board)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripon_Society

Tuesday Group / Republican Governance Group
     (informal caucus)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuesday_Group


Liberty Caucus
     (Effectively defunct. There are current House members who still serve and were recently members, and they may still be members. It's unknown whether the group still has meetings or elects leaders.)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Caucus

Republican Liberty Caucus
     (political action organization that endorses; affiliated with the non-profit 501(c)4 organization The Liberty Committee)

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Liberty_Caucus
     List of former members: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_Liberty_Committee

DEMOCRATIC GROUPS

House Democratic Caucus
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Democratic_Caucus



Formal Democratic Party Factions/Caucuses

Blue Dog Coalition
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dog_Coalition

New Democrat Coalition
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrat_Coalition

Blue Collar Caucus
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Collar_Caucus

Congressional Progressive Caucus
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Progressive_Caucus

Democratic Ideological Factions Which Are Not Formal U.S. House Caucuses, But Are Similar Enough to Caucuses to Mention

Democratic Socialists of America
     (non-profit organization that endorses)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Socialists_of_America

Populist Caucus
     (Effectively defunct. There are current House members who still serve and were recently members, and they may still be members. It's unknown whether the group still has meetings or elects leaders.)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populist_Caucus

Justice Democrats
     (progressive PAC that endorses)
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_Democrats

Democratic Freedom Caucus
     (small caucus, no current U.S. Representatives are members)
     http://www.democraticfreedomcaucus.org/

Written, compiled, and published on February 3rd, 2021

Ideological Caucus Membership in the 111th, 112th, 113th, and 114th U.S. Houses of Representatives

Originally Written Between Summer 2010 and December 2015

as Separate Pieces

Edited on December 28^th, 2015 and January 26^th, 2016

A C.M.O., or Congressional Member Organization, is an organization which a member of Congress joins in order to pursue some specific legislative agenda in common with other members. There exists a wide variety of causes for which such organizations exist, such as the Congressional Black Caucus, the LGBT Equality Caucus, and the Out of Iraq Caucus.

Even the Democratic Caucus (known to most people as the Democratic Party) and the Republican Conference (the Republican Party) are themselves caucuses. The ideological caucuses are crucial to understanding the way civics and economics intersect, to influence the structure of our political system. In fact, both parties have within them four or five smaller sub-sets of ideological caucuses.

In some of these smaller caucuses, membership is open to any and all congressmen, regardless of affiliation with others. However, despite the fact that congressmen are permitted to join more than one caucus if they so wish, not one of these ideological caucuses has a membership list which straddles party lines by even one member.

The 111^th Congress

Note: all of the following figures are for the House of Representatives only, and not the Senate; are accurate as of the end of the 111th Congress (2009-2010); and include information for the two congressmen who left office during that convention of Congress.

As of 2010, the Republican Conference had five caucuses within it which can be considered ideological caucuses, although not all of them are officially designated as such. There may be other ideological caucuses within the party, but they are not mentioned here, because no U.S. House members are members of these caucuses.

The caucuses are, by descending order of membership quantity:

- the Republican Study Committee, founded in 1973, with 114 members;

- the Tea Party Caucus, formed in 2009, with 51 members;

- the Republican Main Street Partnership, founded in 1994, with 42 members;

- the Liberty Committee, with 12 members;

            and

- the Republican Liberty Caucus, with 7 members.

As of 2010, 24 of the 178 Republican House members remained unaffiliated with any ideological caucus.

As of 2010, the Democratic Caucus had four caucuses within it which can be considered ideological caucuses. There is also the Democratic Freedom Caucus, which is active in the states, but no U.S. House members belong to this caucus.

The ideological caucuses are, by descending order of membership quantity:

- the Congressional Progressive Caucus, founded in 1991, with 77 members (78 including District of Columbia delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton);

- the New Democrat Coalition, founded in 1997, with 71 members;

- the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, founded in 1995, with 54 members;

            and

- the Populist Caucus, founded in 2009, with 28 members.

As of 2010, 73 of the 257 Democratic House members remained unaffiliated with any ideological caucus.

The 112^th Congress

            Note: all of the following figures are for the House of Representatives only and not the Senate, are accurate as of the beginning of the 112th Congress (2011-2012).

            As of 2012, the Republican Conference had five caucuses within it which can be considered ideological caucuses, although not all of them are officially designated as such. The caucuses are, by descending order of membership quantity:

            - the Republican Study Committee, with 171 members

            - the Tea Party Caucus, with 56 members

            - the Republican Main Street Partnership, with 41 members

            - the Republican Liberty Caucus, with 13 members

                        and

            - the Liberty Committee, with 10 members

           

As of 2012, 33 of the 242 Republican House members remained unaffiliated with any ideological caucus.

            As of 2012, the Democratic Caucus had four caucuses within it which can be considered ideological caucuses. They are, by descending order of membership quantity:

            - the Congressional Progressive Caucus, founded in 1991, with 71 members (72 including District of Columbia delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton)

            - the New Democrat Coalition, founded in 1997, with 41 members

            - the Populist Caucus, founded in 2009, with 25 members

            - the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, founded in 1995, with 23 members

            63 of the 193 Democratic House members remain unaffiliated with any ideological caucus.

The 113^th Congress

(No written statistics available; see images for data)

The 114^th Congress

            Note: all of the following figures are for the House of Representatives only and not the Senate, are accurate as of the beginning of the 112th Congress (2011-2012).

            An ideological caucus is a C.M.O. (Congressional Member Organization) which is populated by members of the U.S. Congress; both from the Senate and the House of Representatives. Ideological caucuses are organizations which are formed in order to pursue some specific legislative agenda, in keeping with a political and/or economic ideology.

            Some ideological C.M.O.s are open to members of both parties, but in actual practice, there is no ideological C.M.O. which can claim members of both the Democratic Party and the Republican Conference. The Republican party has six ideological C.M.O.s, and the Democratic Party has either four or five, depending on whether the Populist Caucus is officially defunct. Congressmen are permitted to join more than one ideological C.M.O., and many congressmen have declined to affiliate with any of these organizations.

            In the 114^th Congress – the current congress (as of 2016), which is in session from January 3^rd, 2015 to January 3^rd, 2017 – there are 188 Democrats; and 247 Republicans have been elected to the House of Representatives, although only 246 are currently serving. The following data pertain only to the House of Representatives, and not the Senate.

The Republican Study Committee is the largest ideological C.M.O. in the U.S. House by membership. Founded in 1973, the Republican Study Committee is a right-wing, fiscally and socially conservative, economically liberal C.M.O.. As of 2016, it had 172 members, about 60 or 70 of whom also belonged to other ideological C.M.O.s, all populated by Republicans.

Founded in 1994, the Republican Main Street Partnership is a moderate, centrist to center-right, fiscally conservative C.M.O.. It has 65 members.

Founded in 2010, the Tea Party Caucus is a right-wing, fiscally and socially conservative C.M.O.. It has about 50 to 60 members, and is open to members of both parties, although all of its members are Republicans.

Founded in 2015, the House Freedom Caucus is a right-wing to far-right, and socially and fiscally conservative, C.M.O.. It has 38 members.

Founded in 2011, the House Liberty Caucus is a right-wing, conservative, and libertarian C.M.O.. It has 36 members.

Founded some time prior to 2001, the Liberty Committee is a right-wing, conservative, and libertarian C.M.O.. It has at least five, but perhaps as many as ten or twelve, members.

About 75 Republican members of the U.S. House are affiliated with multiple ideological C.M.O.s, while about 30 to 35 Republican House members are not affiliated with any of these C.M.O.s.

The largest Democratic C.M.O. by membership is the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Founded in 1991, it is a left-wing, progressive, and socially liberal C.M.O.. It has 68 members, about 15 to 20 of whom also belong to other ideological C.M.O.s., all populated by Democrats.

Founded in 1997, the New Democrat Coalition is a center to center-left, third-way, fiscally conservative, socially progressive C.M.O.. It has 46 members.

Founded in 2009, the Populist Caucus is (or was) a populist and progressive C.M.O.. It may be defunct, but if it still exists, it likely has between 15 and 20 members.

Founded in 1995, the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is a centrist, fiscally and socially conservative C.M.O.. It has 14 members.

About 28 or 30 Democratic members of the U.S. House are affiliated with multiple ideological C.M.O.s, while about 60 to 65 Democratic House members are not affiliated with any of these C.M.O.s.