Congressional caucus
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A congressional caucus is a group of members of the
Party caucuses and conferences in the United States Congress
The largest
Ideological conferences
Ideological congressional caucuses can represent a political party within a political party. In the United States two-party dominant political system, these congressional caucuses help congregate and advance the ideals of a more focused ideology within the two major relatively big tent political parties. Some caucuses are organized political factions with a common ideological orientation.[3] Most ideological caucuses are confined to the House of Representatives. The rosters of large caucuses are usually listed publicly. Members of Congress are not restricted to a single ideological caucus, creating overlaps between the organisations.
Racial and ethnic caucuses
Among the most visible caucuses are those composed of members sharing the same
- The African-Americans
- The two Hispanic caucuses:
- The Congressional Hispanic Caucus for Hispanic Democrats only (Hispanic Republicans are barred from membership per 2000s rule change)
- The Congressional Hispanic Conference for Hispanic Republicans, who formerly belonged to the Hispanic Caucus but later formed their own caucus due to being barred
- The Pacific Islandersbut are open to other members as well
White Americans/European Americans are the only Racial ethnic group that doesn't have a caucus.
ERA Caucus
The ERA Caucus (Equal Rights Amendment Caucus) was formed March 28, 2023, by representatives Ayanna Pressley and Cori Bush to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th amendment of the U.S. Constitution,[4] having met all requirements of Article V in 2020 with the ratification by the 38th state, Virginia.[5] The Caucus has quickly grown to be one of the largest in the U.S. House of Representatives, standing at 69 members in May 2023.
The ERA Caucus quickly showed their support of the ERA, marching on April 28, 2023 to the Senate in support of S.J. Res 4, the bill to affirm the ERA.[6]
LGBT+ caucus
The formation of the
The LGBT Equality Caucus admits any member who is willing to advance LGBT rights, regardless of their sexual identity or orientation; it has historically been co-chaired by every openly-LGBT member of the House. The caucus had 194 members, all of them Democrats, in the 118th United States Congress.
Interest group caucuses
The most common caucuses consist of members united as an
Rules
The
- Members of both the House and Senate may participate in CMO, but at least one of the officers of the CMO must be a Member of the House. The participation of Senators in a CMO does not impact the scope of authorized CMO activities in any regard.
- CMOs have no separate corporate or legal identity. A CMO is not an employing authority. The Members' Representational Allowance may not directly support a CMO as an independent entity. A CMO may not be assigned separate office space.
- Neither CMOs nor individual members may accept goods, funds, or services from private organizations or individuals to support the CMO. Members may use personal funds to support the CMO.
- A member of a CMO may utilize employees (including shared employees) and official resources under the control of the member to assist the CMO in carrying out its legislative objectives, but no employees may be appointed in the name of a CMO.
- CMOs may not use the frank (congressional free mailing) privilege, nor may a member lend their frank to a CMO.
- A member may use official resources for communications related to the purpose of a CMO. Any such communications must comply with the franking regulations.
- Members may devote a section of their official website to CMO issues, but CMOs may not have independent web pages.
- A member may use inside mail to communicate information related to a CMO.
- Members may prepare material related to CMO issues for dissemination.
- Official funds may not be used to print or pay for stationery for the CMO.
- Members may refer to their membership in a CMO on their official stationery.
See also
- All-party parliamentary group
- Caucuses of the United States Congress
- Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)
- Factions in the Republican Party (United States)
Notes
- 114th Congresslasted from January 3, 2015 to January 3, 2017.
References
- ^ "Congressional Member Organizations: Their Purpose and Activities, History, and Formation" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. January 26, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
- ^ "All-party Parliamentary Groups". BBC News. August 20, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
- ^ Hawkings, David (January 19, 2016). "The House's Ideology, in Seven Circles". Roll Call. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ^ Savery, Hunter. "New House caucus pushes for ratification of Equal Rights Amendment". Capital News Service. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ Pressley, Ayanna. "Pressley, Bush Launch First-Ever Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus". Official Rep. Pressley website. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ Pressley, Ayanna. "Tweet of march to Senate on ERA". Twitter. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ "House Members Form LGBT Equality Caucus: Goal is Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Americans" (Press release). LGBT Equality Caucus. June 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 11, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- The Advocate, February 5, 2008, retrieved April 7, 2010
- ^ a b "Mission". LGBT Equality Caucus. June 12, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2019.