Congressional Progressive Caucus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | CPC |
| Chair | Greg Casar (TX–35) |
| Founded | 1991; 34 years ago (1991) |
| Ideology | Progressivism[3][a] |
| Political position | Center-left toleft-wing |
| National affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Colors | |
| Seats in theSenate Democratic Caucus | 1 / 47 |
| Seats in theSenate | 1 / 100 |
| Seats in theHouse Democratic Caucus | 94 / 213[b] |
| Seats in theHouse | 94 / 435[b] |
| Website | |
progressives | |
TheCongressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is acongressional caucus affiliated with theDemocratic Party in theUnited States Congress.[4] The CPC represents theprogressive faction of the Democratic Party.[5][6] It was founded in 1991 and has grown since then, becoming the second-largest Democratic caucus in theHouse of Representatives.
As of July 19, 2024, the CPC has 98 members (95 votingrepresentatives, onenon-voting delegate, and onesenator),[7][8][9][10] making it the second-largest ideological caucus in theHouse Democratic Caucus by voting members, behind theNew Democrat Coalition. The CPC is chaired by U.S. representativeGreg Casar (D-TX). In addition, the CPC is affiliated with the Congressional Political Caucus PAC, apolitical action committee which is led by members of the caucus.
The CPC was established in 1991 by U.S. representativesRon Dellums (D-CA),Lane Evans (D-IL),Thomas Andrews (D-ME),Peter DeFazio (D-OR),Maxine Waters (D-CA) andBernie Sanders (I-VT). Additional representatives joined soon thereafter, includingMajor Owens (D-NY),Nydia Velázquez (D-NY),David Bonior (D-MI),Bob Filner (D-CA),Barney Frank (D-MA),Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),Jim McDermott (D-WA),Jerry Nadler (D-NY),Patsy Mink (D-HI),George Miller (D-CA),Pete Stark (D-CA),John Olver (D-MA),Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), andLynn Woolsey (D-CA). Sanders was the first CPC chairman.[11]
The founding CPC members were concerned about the economic hardship imposed by the deepening recession and the growing inequality brought about by the timidity of theDemocratic Party response in the early 1990s. On January 3, 1995, at a standing room only news conference on Capitol Hill, they were the first group inside Congress to chart a comprehensive legislative alternative to U.S. speaker Newt Gingrich and the RepublicanContract with America. The CPC's agenda was framed as "The Progressive Promise: Fairness".[12]
| Start | End | Co-Chair | Co-Chair |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 1999 | Bernie Sanders (VT) | |
| 1999 | 2003 | Dennis Kucinich (OH) | |
| 2003 | 2005 | Pete DeFazio (OR) | |
| 2005 | 2009 | Barbara Lee (CA) | Lynn Woolsey (CA) |
| 2009 | 2011 | Raúl Grijalva (AZ) | |
| 2011 | 2017 | Keith Ellison (MN) | |
| 2017 | 2019 | Mark Pocan (WI) | |
| 2019 | 2021 | Pramila Jayapal (WA) | |
| 2021 | 2025 | Pramila Jayapal (WA) | |
| 2025 | present | Greg Casar (TX) | |
Chair:Greg Casar (TX-35)
Deputy Chair:Ilhan Omar (MN-5)
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Whip:Chuy García (IL-4)
Chair Emeriti:Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) andMark Pocan (WI-2)
Vice Chairs:
Executive Board Members at Large:
The CPC advocates "a universal, high-quality,Medicare for All health care system for all",living wage laws, reductions in military expenditure, increased corporate regulation and taxes, ending massincarceration, strongmeasures to reverse climate change, immigration reform andreparations.[13] The CPC's political position can be characterized ascenter-left[14] andleft-wing.[15][16][17]
In April 2011, the CPC released a proposed "People's Budget" for fiscal year 2012.[18] Two of its proponents stated: "By implementing a fair tax code, by building a resilient American economy, and by bringing our troops home, we achieve a budget surplus of over $30 billion by 2021 and we end up with a debt that is less than 65% of our GDP. This is what sustainability looks like".[19]
In 2019, theDemocratic-controlledHouse of Representatives passed H.R.582,The Raise the Wage Act,[20] which would have gradually raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour. It was not taken up in the Republican-controlledSenate. In January 2021, Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives reintroduced the bill.[21] In February 2021, theCongressional Budget Office released a report on the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 which estimated that incrementally raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would benefit 17 million workers, but would also reduce employment by 1.4 million people.[22][23][24] On February 27, 2021, the Democratic-controlled House passed theAmerican Rescue Planpandemic relief package, which included a gradualminimum wage increase to $15 per hour.[25] The measure was ultimately removed from the Senate version of the bill.[26]
Five weeks after the 2024 elections, Caucus chair-electGreg Casar connected "serious discontent" with the Democratic Party to the "2008 housing crash", as manifested inOccupy Wall Street and certain aims for movements such asBlack Lives Matter. According to Casar, Democratic Party leaders must redirect voter attentions away from the specter of "an asylum seeker trying to raise your rent" to "hedge funds just buying up neighborhoods, jacking up the rent and being deregulated by the Republicans."[27] In a subsequent interview, the Texas labor advocate admitted that "the Democratic brand has been damaged" and outlined the Progressive Caucus strategy for a "rebrand".[28]
Casar observed that, during the 2024 electoral campaigns, Republicans focused on "targeting and scapegoating a group of vulnerable people in order to make it sound like, in Middle America, that is all the Democratic Party works on and cares about." Casar pointed out thatNancy Mace, for instance, had already announced plans to regulate "which marble bathroom certain people can and can’t use, because she wants to distract the American people from the billionaire tax cut that she’s about to work on with Donald Trump." But he added that Democrats should not support "fighting for working people first" as an avenue for "throwing [another group of] vulnerable people under the bus."[27]
In narrating authenticity, "what works is if we tell a clear and authentic story to the American people about why they feel screwed over." In response to such stories promulgated across the aisle, "We should point out that it wasn’t a trans person that denied your health insurance claim; it was a gigantic corporation that went unregulated by the Republicans. It’s not an undocumented immigrant raising your rent; it’s a Wall Street hedge fund that’s doing it, and Trump is appointing those guys to his Cabinet. I think the Progressive Caucus is ready to tell that kind of story."[29]
Three months after the elections, the New Democrat Coalition expressed concerns about increasing numbers of Congressional Progressive Caucus members pursuing concurrent membership in the NDC. New Democrats did not address the number of previous and current members of the NDC attempting to maintain seats in both caucuses as well.[30]
TheMedicare for All Act is a bill first introduced in theUnited States House of Representatives by RepresentativeJohn Conyers (D-MI) in 2003, with 38 co-sponsors.[31][32] In 2019, the original 16-year-old proposal was renumbered, andPramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced a broadly similar but more detailed bill,[33] HR 1384, in the116th Congress.[34] As of November 3, 2019[update], it had 116 co-sponsors still in the House at the time, or 49.8% of House Democrats.[35]
The act would establish a universalsingle-payer health care system in the United States, the rough equivalent ofCanada's Medicare andTaiwan'sBureau of National Health Insurance, among other examples. Under a single-payer system, most medical care would be paid for by thefederal government, ending the need for private health insurance and premiums, and re-casting private insurance companies as providing purely supplemental coverage, to be used when non-essential care is sought. The national system would be paid for in part through taxes replacing insurance premiums, but also by savings realized through the provision of preventive universal health care and the elimination of insurance companyoverhead and hospital billing costs.[36] On September 13, 2017, SenatorBernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a parallel bill in theUnited States Senate, with 16 co-sponsors.[37][38][39] The act would establish a universal single-payer health care system in the United States.[36]
In 2019, the CPC challenged House speakerNancy Pelosi regarding the details of a drug-pricing bill, theElijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.[40] The final version was the result of extensive negotiations between House Democratic leadership and members of the CPC.[41] The bill was introduced into theHouse of Representatives on September 19, 2019, during the116th Congress by Rep.Frank Pallone (D-NJ).[32] The bill received 106 co-sponsors.[42] It passed the House on December 12, 2019, by a vote of (230-192). All Democrats voted for the measure, and all but 2 Republicans voted against it. The bill was then sent to theSenate. The Senate, having been controlled byRepublicans, did not bring the bill up for a vote.
During the117th United States Congress, CongresswomanJudy Chu (CA-27) introduced theWomen's Health Protection Act. The act would expand abortion rights and codifyRoe v. Wade. It was introduced in response to theTexas Heartbeat Act. It passedHouse of Representatives (218–211), but was defeated in theSenate on a 46–48 vote in February 2022.[43][44]
A prominent 2019 attempt to get legislation passed for a Green New Deal was sponsored by Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen.Ed Markey (D-MA) during the116th United States Congress, though it failed to advance in the Senate.[45]Green New Deal proposals call forpublic policy to addressclimate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducingeconomic inequality. The name refers back to theNew Deal, a set ofsocial andeconomic reforms andpublic works projects undertaken by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt in response to theGreat Depression.[46] The Green New Deal combines Roosevelt's economic approach with modern ideas such asrenewable energy andresource efficiency.[47][48]
In July 2022, the House Judiciary Committee chairmanJerrold Nadler (D-NY), SenatorDianne Feinstein (D-CA), Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality caucus chairmanDavid Cicilline (D-RI), SenatorTammy Baldwin (D-WI) and SenatorSusan Collins (R-ME) announced the re-introduction of theRespect for Marriage Act, which was revised to include protections forinterracial marriages to codifyLoving v. Virginia.[49] The act passed the House (267–157) on July 19, 2022, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting in the affirmative.[50]
The Senate considered the bill, but it was initially unclear if it would receive enough votes to end debate. On November 14, 2022, a group of bipartisan senators, includingRob Portman (R-OH),Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ),Thom Tillis (R-NC),Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), andSusan Collins (R-ME) announced they had reached an amendment compromise to include language for religious protections and clarify that the bill did not legalizepolygamous marriage.[51] The amendment specifies that nonprofit religious organizations will not be required to provide services for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage.[52] Shortly after, Senate majority leaderChuck Schumer announced the Respect for Marriage Act would be put up for a full vote.[53]
On November 16, 2022, the Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed (62–37) to the amended bill.[54] All 50 Democratic senators and 12 Republicans (Roy Blunt,Richard Burr,Shelley Moore Capito,Susan Collins,Joni Ernst,Cynthia Lummis,Lisa Murkowski,Rob Portman,Mitt Romney,Dan Sullivan,Thom Tillis, andTodd Young) voted in favor of advancing the bill.[52] On November 29, 2022, the Senate voted 61–36 to pass the bill.[55] Voting in favor of the bill were 49 Democrats and the same 12 Republicans who had voted to advance it. Two Republicans (Ben Sasse andPatrick Toomey) and one Democrat (Raphael Warnock, who co-sponsored the bill) did not vote.[56]
RepresentativeLois Frankel (FL-22) left the caucus on November 20, 2023, andRitchie Torres (NY-15) left the caucus on February 21, 2024; both left over disagreements regardingsupport for Israel in the Gaza war. Both are described as staunch supporters of Israel.[57][58]Twenty Democrats led bySummer Lee andGreg Casar, who was elected to lead the Congressional Caucus in 2025, are calling for support for U.S. legislation that would ban arming countries that block humanitarian aid.[59]
In October 2022, 30 members of the caucus urged the Biden administration to seek a negotiated, diplomatic end to theRussian invasion of Ukraine while advocating for continued economic and military support to Ukraine.[60][61] The next day, after a wave of criticism, the letter was swiftly withdrawn on the basis that peaceful negotiations with Putin in current situation are "nearly impossible". Jayapal reasserted the Democrats' support for Ukraine and said the letter had been drafted several months ago and "released by staff without vetting".[62]
| Election year | Senate | House of Representatives | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Caucus | ± | % | Democratic Caucus | ± | % | |
| 2010 | 2 / 53 | 3.8% | 77 / 193 | 39.9% | ||
| 2012 | 1 / 55 |  1 | 1.8% | 68 / 200 | 9 | 34.0% |
| 2014 | 1 / 46 |  | 2.2% | 68 / 188 | | 36.2% |
| 2016 | 1 / 48 | | 2.1% | 78 / 193 |  10 | 40.4% |
| 2018 | 1 / 47 | | 2.1% | 96 / 233 | 18 | 41.2% |
| 2020 | 1 / 50 | | 2.0% | 95 / 220 | 1 | 43.2% |
| 2022 | 1 / 51 | | 2.0% | 100 / 213 | 5 | 46.9% |
| 2024 | 1 / 47 | | 2.13% | 96 / 215 | 4 | 44.7% |
All members areDemocrats or caucus with the Democratic Party. In the119th Congress, there are currently 96 declaredprogressives, including 94 voting representatives, 1 non-voting delegate, and 1 senator.[7]
| State | Party | CPVI[63] | Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | Independent | D+17 | Bernie Sanders |
The CPC is affiliated with the Congressional Political Caucus PAC, apolitical action committee which was established in 2009 and is led by members of the caucus to endorse and fundraise for candidates.[64] In 2018, the caucus established the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center and Progressive Caucus Action Fund, a501(c)(3) and501(c)(4), respectively, to coordinate messaging and policy initiatives between the caucus and supportive organizations.[65][66]
[…] the Democrats' progressive wing, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, could face an uphill battle in contesting seats in the midterms […]
Solo esta opción "podrá garantizar los derechos civiles y políticos, así como la seguridad y la autodeterminación de ambos pueblos", aducen los firmantes, muchos de ellos representantes del llamado 'caucus progresista', el ala centroizquierdista del partido Demócrata, como Ilhan Omar, Katie Porter o Sara Jacobs.[Only this option "can guarantee the civil and political rights, as well as the security and self-determination of both peoples," argue the signatories, many of them representatives of the so-called 'progressive caucus', the centre-left wing of the Democratic Party, such as Ilhan Omar, Katie Porter or Sara Jacobs.]
Ellison is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the putative left-wing answer to the brinksmen of the Freedom Caucus on the right, and he was an early and fervent supporter of Sanders's Presidential campaign.
Lawmakers in the Freedom Caucus (on the right) and Congressional Progressive Caucus (on the left) drew red lines and held news conferences listing reasons to oppose the bill.
Congressional Progressive Caucus: Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) seems ready to take over from CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) atop the influential leftist bloc next year.
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would increase wages for at least 17 million people, but also put 1.4 million Americans out of work, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office released on Monday.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would significantly reduce poverty and increase earnings for millions of low-wage workers, while adding to the federal deficit and cutting overall employment, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. ... On one hand, the CBO estimated that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would cost 1.4 million jobs and increase the deficit by $54 billion over 10 years. But it also estimated the policy would lift 900,000 people out of poverty and raise income for 17 million people — about 1 in 10 workers. Another 10 million who have wages just above that amount could potentially see increases, as well, the CBO reported.
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