Key facts
- The caucus said it will welcome more than 25 new members, including a record number who won in red districts.
- The caucus had 100 members in the last Congress and said its ranks will expand to more than 105.
- The caucus endorsed nine candidates in competitive red-to-blue races and six won.
- Caucus chair Greg Casar said the caucus would bring bills on wages, corruption, housing costs, credit card interest rates and child care to the floor.
- Pramila Jayapal said the caucus plans to take members on the road to promote Medicare for All, including in South Carolina and Florida.
- Three incoming progressive House Democrats wrote to Israel's ambassador on Friday demanding the release of Abed Abu Shehadeh.
The Congressional Progressive caucus said on Sunday it will welcome more than 25 new members to the next Congress, including a record number who won in districts carried by Trump, expanding its ranks to more than 105 lawmakers from 100 in the last Congress. The caucus endorsed nine candidates in competitive red-to-blue races and six won, including Randy Villegas in California, Katy Padilla Stout in Texas and Sam Forstag in Montana.
Caucus chair Greg Casar said at a press conference in front of the Capitol building that progressive ideas won the election and that the caucus needs to deliver on those promises. Casar said the caucus would bring bills on wages, corruption, housing costs, credit card interest rates and child care to the floor, and that he was not worried about vetoes. Asked whether the caucus would back Hakeem Jeffries for speaker, Casar did not commit, saying every member would have an individual vote.
Pramila Jayapal, the caucus's chair emerita, said she was caught off guard by the surge of wins from candidates in risky races who campaigned on Medicare for All. She said the caucus plans to take members on the road to promote Medicare for All, including in red states such as South Carolina and Florida, and pointed to Alabama representative Shomari Figures, who signed onto the bill six to eight months ago.
Six Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates also won House seats in safely Democratic districts, several of whom attended the press conference, including Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez of New York, Donavan McKinney of Michigan and Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania. None of the incoming members endorsed by the DSA have committed to supporting Jeffries for speaker, according to the report.
Among the newcomers to the caucus is Adam Hamawy of New Jersey, a surgeon who has worked in Gaza, who said he wants to pass Medicare for All and stop what he called a genocide in Gaza. Three incoming progressive House Democrats, Brad Lander of New York, Scott Wiener of California and Daniel Biss of Illinois, wrote to Israel's ambassador on Friday demanding the release of Abed Abu Shehadeh, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen detained at his home in Jaffa on election night on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent. His lawyers said the case concerned a single interview with an exiled Palestinian intellectual and former member of Israel's parliament, and he was released on Sunday without charges.