The Squad (United States Congress) facts for kids
Founding members
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY-14
- Ilhan Omar, MN-5
- Ayanna Pressley, MA-7
- Rashida Tlaib, MI-12
Subsequent additions
- Jamaal Bowman, NY-16
- Cori Bush, MO-1
- Greg Casar, TX-35
- Summer Lee, PA-12
- Delia Ramirez, IL-3
The Squad is an informal left-wing group of nine Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was initially composed of four women 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. They have since been joined by Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri following the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, and Greg Casar of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, and Delia Ramirez of Illinois following the 2022 elections. The Squad is well known for being among the most progressive and left-wing members of the United States Congress.
All were elected under the age of 50, 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 safe seats with Cook Partisan Voting Index scores of at least D+20. All but Omar, Pressley, and Ramirez are currently or formerly affiliated with Democratic Socialists of America, with Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, Tlaib, and Bush being currently endorsed. In 2024, Bowman and Bush lost re-election in their primaries.
The Squad has been said to represent the advocacy of progressive policies supported by some in the younger political generation, such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and tuition-free college, which have sometimes clashed with their party's leadership. Ocasio-Cortez coined the "Squad" name 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.
Contents
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. Ocasio-Cortez's home borough of The Bronx was the origin of hip hop. Musical acts with "Squad" in their name and lyrics existed from the 1990s to the present.
The New York Times considers the Squad to be sui generis, not fitting neatly into the usual types of 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, with a militaristic connotation, conveys values of self-defense, allegiance, and having "something important to protect". The moniker has been used pejoratively by some Republicans, but the four original women use the term self-referentially to express solidarity among themselves and with supporters. For example, the Justice Democrats tweeted a quote from Pressley saying: "We are more than four people... Our squad includes any person committed to creating a more equitable and just world."
The average age of the Squad was 38.3 years as of mid-2019, nearly two decades younger than the overall House average age of 57.6 years.
Membership
The four original members of the Squad had already been discussed as a group, even before the name was widely adopted. However, according to Mediaite, the news media currently uses "Squad" to refer to the group "almost exclusively".
| Member | Born | District | Prior experience | In office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
October 13, 1989 (age 35) New York City, New York |
New York 14 (D+25) |
Organizer, Bernie Sanders for President (2016) |
2019 - Present |
.jpg) Ilhan Omar |
October 4, 1982 (age 42) Mogadishu, Somalia |
Minnesota 5 (D+29) |
Minnesota House of Representatives (2017–2019) |
|
 Ayanna Pressley |
February 3, 1974 (age 50) Cincinnati, Ohio |
Massachusetts 7 (D+35) |
Boston City Council (2010–2019) |
|
.jpg) Rashida Tlaib |
July 24, 1976 (age 48) Detroit, Michigan |
Michigan 12 (D+23) |
Michigan House of Representatives (2009–2014) |
|
.jpg) Jamaal Bowman |
April 1, 1976 (age 48) New York City, New York |
New York 16 (D+25) |
Schoolteacher, school principal | 2021 - January 3, 2025 |
.jpg) Cori Bush |
July 21, 1976 (age 48) St. Louis, Missouri |
Missouri 1 (D+29) |
Nurse, pastor, activist | |
 Greg Casar |
May 4, 1989 (age 35) Houston, Texas |
Texas 35 (D+21) |
Austin City Council (2015–2022) |
2023 - Present |
 Summer Lee |
November 26, 1987 (age 37) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania 12 (D+8) |
Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2018–2022) |
|
 Delia Ramirez |
June 8, 1983 (age 41) Chicago, Illinois |
Illinois 3 (D+20) |
Illinois House of Representatives (2018–2022) |
Suggested members
After the 2020 election cycle, it was suggested that Marie Newman, who successfully challenged an incumbent member of the House of Representatives with Justice Democrats' backing, as well as Mondaire Jones, who was initially challenging an incumbent and subsequently won the primary after the incumbent announced her retirement, were thought of as potentially members of the Squad. Ritchie Torres was another person named as a potential member, but Torres said he had "no intention of joining The Squad".
Becca Balint and Maxwell Frost, who both won Democratic primaries in safe Democratic seats in 2022, were also named as potential Squad members but never officially joined the group.
See also
In Spanish: El Escuadrón (Congreso de los Estados Unidos) para niños
- Congressional Progressive Caucus
- Democratic Socialists of America
- Women in the United States House of Representatives
