The Squad is an informal progressive and left-wing faction of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.Sources for "left wing" and "progressive" Members of the Squad are all members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The Squad comprises the furthest left faction of the Democratic Caucus.
The Squad was initially composed of four members elected in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. The grouping expanded to six following the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, with newly elected Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri joining. Following the 2022 elections, the squad grew to nine with the addition of Greg Casar of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, and Delia Ramirez of Illinois. After the 2024 elections, the group reduced to seven, as Bowman and Bush were defeated in their primaries and left at the beginning of the 119th Congress.
The Squad's members have been supported by the Justice Democrats political action committee, and are on the left wing of the Democratic Party. Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, Bush and Bowman were initially elected to Congress after unseating incumbents in primary challenges. All but Lee represent seats with Cook Partisan Voting Index scores of at least D+20. Geographically, all but the Texan Casar hail from the Midwestern United States or Northeastern United States. All but Omar, Pressley, and Ramirez are currently or formerly affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Squad has been said to represent the advocacy of progressive policies such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and tuition-free college, which the party leadership may not support. Ocasio-Cortez coined the name "Squad" in an Instagram post a week after the 2018 election. The photo, taken at a VoteRunLead event where the four founding members spoke, subsequently went viral. The grouping has since officially adopted the moniker by launching the Squad Victory Fund, a political action committee.
Name The colloquial use of the word "squad" arose from East Coast hip hop culture and describes "a self-chosen group of people that hope you want to identify with them". Its use by Ocasio-Cortez signaled familiarity with millennial slang as a playful reference to youth social cliques. Hip-hop originated in her home borough, The Bronx. Musical acts with "Squad" in their names and lyrics have existed since the 1990s.
The New York Times considers the Squad sui generis, not fitting neatly into the usual congressional groups: the gang (a bipartisan group focused on particular legislation) or the caucus (a pressure group based on special interests). It notes that the term has a militaristic connotation, conveying values of self-defense, allegiance, and having "something important to protect". Some Republicans have used the moniker pejoratively, but the four original women use it to express solidarity among themselves and with supporters. For example, the Justice Democrats quoted Pressley saying: "We are more than four people... Our squad includes any person committed to creating a more equitable and just world." Before new members joined the original 2018 elected members, President Trump referred to the Squad as "AOC+3".
The average age of the Squad was 38.3 as of mid-2019, nearly 20 years under the overall House average age of 57.6.
History
2018 election
Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley unseated Joe Crowley and Mike Capuano, respectively, in primary elections. Omar won the seat previously held by Democrat Keith Ellison, who retired from the House to successfully run for Attorney General of Minnesota, and Tlaib won the seat once held by Dean of the House John Conyers, who resigned in 2017 after nearly 53 years in Congress. At least three Squad members provided fundraising and volunteer assistance during the other members' campaigns.
116th Congress According to Pressley, she and Ocasio-Cortez had met before Freshman Orientation Week for the 116th United States Congress. During that event a week after Election Day, on November 12, 2018, all four Squad members participated in a livestreamed interview with Jodi Jacobson from Rewire.News, organized by VoteRunLead, and took a group picture. Ocasio-Cortez published the picture on Instagram, labeling it "Squad"; Pressley published it on her Instagram story the same day. The next day, they had already attracted negative attention in conservative media, as Laura Ingraham of Fox News called them "the four horsewomen of the apocalypse". The four women, known for their social media savvy, regularly defend each other's policies and remarks.
After publication, Ocasio-Cortez's Squad photo became a viral phenomenon, and public figures, notably New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, began using "The Squad" to refer collectively to the four women. Dowd had used the term in an interview with House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who criticized the Squad collectively without naming them. Another photo of the three members who served on the House Oversight Committee during Michael Cohen's testimony also got viral attention.
On July 14, 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted that the members of the Squad should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done". The insinuation that people of color are foreign was widely viewed as racist; three of the four are American-born and the fourth (Omar) became a naturalized citizen in her youth. On July 15, the four women responded in a press conference, saying, "We are here to stay."
On July 16, the House of Representatives condemned Trump's remarks in H.Res. 489. Over the following days, Trump continued to attack the four Squad members, saying at a July 17 campaign rally: "They never have anything good to say. That's why I say, 'Hey if you don't like it, let 'em leave, let 'em leave.' ... I think in some cases they hate our country." While Trump criticized Omar, the North Carolina crowd chanted, "Send her back, send her back!" Trump also falsely claimed that the four had used the term "evil Jews"; none of them has been reported to have used the term. The same day, the Republican Party launched a political advertisement against the Squad, titled "Squad Goals: Anarchy" and focusing on the Squad's role in the Abolish ICE movement.
A CBS News and YouGov poll of almost 2,100 American adults conducted from July 17 to 19 found that Republican respondents were more aware than Democratic respondents of the four Squad members. The congresswomen had very unfavorable ratings among Republican respondents and favorable ratings among Democratic respondents. In a New York Times opinion piece the historian Barbara Ransby wrote, "The squad has tilled new ground in reanimating a fighting spirit within the Democratic Party and revived its left flank."
In July 2019, the Illinois Republican County Chairmen's Association called the four women the "Jihad Squad" in a Facebook post that was later deleted. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider condemned "evoking race or religion as the basis for political disagreement".
In August 2019, Israel blocked Omar and Tlaib from visiting the country, a reversal of Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer's July statement that "any member of Congress" would be allowed in. A spokesman for Israeli Interior Minister Arye Deri attributed the ban to Omar and Tlaib's support for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Omar and Tlaib intended only to visit the Palestinian Territories and had not scheduled a meeting with any Israeli politicians. Less than two hours before the ban, President Trump had tweeted that for Israel to allow the visit would "show great weakness" when Omar and Tlaib "hate Israel & all Jewish people". Omar responded that Netanyahu had caved to Trump's demand and that "Trump's Muslim ban is what Israel is implementing". Tlaib described the ban as "weakness". American legislators from both parties criticized the ban and requested that Israel withdraw it. Trump applauded the ban while continuing his criticism of Omar and Tlaib, calling them "the face of the Democrat Party, and they HATE Israel". A day after the ban was imposed, Tlaib was granted permission to enter Israel to visit her family on the condition that she "committed to accept all the demands of Israel to respect the restrictions imposed on her in the visit" and "promised not to advance boycotts against Israel during the visit". In response, she said she would not visit Israel, tweeting that doing so would "stand against everything [she] believe[s] in—fighting against racism, oppression, and injustice".
2020 election
Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib endorsed Bernie Sanders for president in 2020. Pressley endorsed Elizabeth Warren.
In July, the four set up "The Squad Victory Fund", a joint action committee, to raise money for their campaigns and other progressive campaigns.
All four members again won the Democratic nomination in their districts. Pressley was unchallenged in her primary, while Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Omar defeated challengers, including Tlaib's House predecessor, Brenda Jones, by large margins.
On January 3, 2021, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman joined the Squad at the start of the 117th United States Congress. Both defeated incumbent Democrats in their primaries—Lacy Clay and Eliot Engel, respectively. Bush posted a photo on Twitter of herself, Bowman, and the four original Squad members with the caption "Squad up."
2022 election
All six members won the Democratic nomination in their districts. Pressley was again unopposed, as was Ocasio-Cortez, while Tlaib, Bush, and Bowman all garnered over 60% of the vote in their primaries. Omar faced significant opposition from establishment-oriented local officials in her district, most notably Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Omar had endorsed a challenger in Frey's 2021 reelection campaign. Despite the backlash, Omar won her primary by a 2.1% margin.
After Casar and Lee won their primaries, it was reported that they would join the Squad as well. Ramirez was identified in 2024 as a member of the Squad in campaigns by Justice Democrats and Progressive Democrats of America, and embraced the label.
2024 election Bowman lost the primary to George Latimer, becoming the first Squad member to lose their seat.
Bush became the second Squad member to be defeated, losing the primary to Wesley Bell.
Both were hurt by their stances on Israel, which resulted in AIPAC supporting their challengers. However, it was noted that both had vulnerabilities that the other seven did not, such as Bowman's censure for knowingly activating a false fire alarm in Congress and Bush's alleged misuse of federal security money. Bush has threatened revenge against AIPAC once "untied from the strings of Congress". AIPAC did not support Omar's primary opponent, former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, even though Samuels had won 48% of the vote in the 2022 primary without their backing. He received 43% in 2024.
All members of the Squad endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024 except Tlaib, who did not issue an endorsement.
Political positions The Squad is generally considered to be a progressive and left-wing faction of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Squad comprises the furthest-left wing faction of the Democratic Caucus.
Squad members generally hold political views considered to be on the left, on subjects such as immigration detention facilities, Islamophobia, universal health care, human rights, the Israel–Palestine conflict, and climate change. This section lists some beliefs typical of Squad members.
Climate change