Originally
Written Between Summer 2010 and December 2015
as Separate
Pieces
Edited on
December 28th, 2015 and January 26th, 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 111th
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 112th
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 113th
Congress
(No written
statistics available; see images for data)
The 114th
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 114th Congress – the current congress (as of 2016), which is in
session from January 3rd, 2015 to January 3rd, 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.
