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76-690: The Blue Dog Coalition , commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats , is a caucus of moderate members from the Democratic Party in the United States House of Representatives . The caucus was founded as a group of conservative Democrats in 1995 in response to defeats in the 1994 elections . Historically, the Blue Dog Coalition has been both fiscally and socially conservative . At its peak in 2009,

152-530: A "vigorous public option" would be included in the final bill and would "benefit the state of Texas." The final bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , included provisions to open health insurance exchanges in each state by October 1, 2013. As the Act requires Americans to purchase health insurance, the federal government will offer subsidies to Americans with income levels up to four times

228-587: A claim-by-claim basis (i.e. for each individual procedure) to instead work as cooperatively as possible, in efficient teams, and receive income in salaries , which proponents believed would both be more efficient, and reduce the complexity associated with medical billing, simplifying both accounting and lowering overall healthcare costs. This primarily would only affect doctors, particularly specialists, such as surgeons, as most nurses and medical technicians are already paid salaried wages as well as pressuring healthcare provider groups and hospitals to research and employ

304-465: A government health insurance plan to compete with private plans. The results were very similar to their polling from July, which found 52% support. An October 2009 Washington Post /ABC poll showed 57% support, a USA Today / Gallup survey described by a USA Today article on October 27 found that 50% of Americans supported a government plan proposal, and a poll from November 10 and 11 by Angus Reid Public Opinion found that 52% of Americans supported

380-518: A government-run health insurance plan with premiums 5% to 7% percent lower than private insurance. The Congressional Budget Office estimated it would reduce the United States public debt by $ 104 billion over 10 years. Representative Schakowsky reintroduced the bill as H.R. 265 in January 2015, where it gained 35 cosponsors. In the run-up to the 2016 Democratic National Convention ,

456-492: A joint session of Congress on September 9, 2009, reiterating his call for a public insurance option, saying that he had "no interest in putting insurance companies out of business" while saying that the public option would "have to be self-sufficient" and succeed by reducing overhead costs and profit motives. Democratic representative Sheila Jackson-Lee , who represented the 18th congressional district in Houston , believed that

532-402: A more competitive, reasonably priced healthcare market across the industry by encouraging more efficient treatments and practices, and finally, eventually generating a large source of non-tax revenue for the government, which could help ease the rate of increasing budgetary deficit. Proponents proposed this would be accomplished by initially paying doctors and hospitals 4%-5% higher for claims than

608-423: A public option by participating in the public Medicare program. Individuals covered by other employer plans or by state insurance plans such as Medicare would not have been eligible to obtain coverage from the exchange. The federal government's health insurance plan would have been financed entirely by premiums without subsidy from the federal government, although some plans called for government seed money to get

684-412: A public option while 25% opposed it, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll which found that 69% of Americans supported a public option while 29% opposed it, and Quinnipiac poll found that 58% of Americans supported a public option while 27% opposed it. In 2009, a survey designed and conducted by doctors Salomeh Keyhani and Alex Federman of Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that 73% of doctors supported

760-684: A public option. A survey reported by the New England Journal of Medicine in September, based on a random sample of 6,000 physicians from the American Medical Association , stated that "it seems clear that the majority of U.S. physicians support using both public and private insurance options to expand coverage." Conversely, a 2009 IBD/TIPP poll of 1,376 physicians showed that 45% of doctors "would consider leaving or taking early retirement" if Congress passes

836-557: A public plan while 53% would prefer to have a private plan. It also stated that 69% would support its creation in the first place. Survey USA estimated that the majority of Americans (77%) feel that it is either "quite important" or "extremely important" to "give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance" in August 2009. A Pew Research Center report published on October 8, 2009, stated that 55% of Americans favor

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912-600: A public plan would compete unfairly with private insurers and drive many of them out of business. Michael F. Cannon , a senior fellow of the libertarian CATO Institute , has argued that the federal government can hide inefficiencies in its administration and draw away consumers from private insurance even if the government offers an inferior product. A study by the Congressional Budget Office found that profits accounted for only about 3 percent of private health insurance premiums, and Cannon argued that

988-424: A public plan. On October 27, journalist Ray Suarez of The News Hour with Jim Lehrer noted that "public opinion researchers say the tide has been shifting over the last several weeks, and now is not spectacularly, but solidly in favor of a public option." Between October 28 and November 13, 2009, Democratic senator Dick Durbin 's campaign organization polled Americans to rank their support for various forms of

1064-539: A public plan. Senator Chuck Schumer has proposed an "opt-out" system in which state governments would initially be part of the network but could choose to avoid offering a public plan. Both before and after passage in the House, significant controversy surrounded the Stupak–Pitts Amendment , added to the bill to prohibit coverage of abortions – with limited exceptions – in the public option or in any of

1140-647: A single ideological caucus, creating overlaps between the organisations. Among the most visible caucuses are those composed of members sharing the same race or ethnic group . The most high profile of these represent people of color . The Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus also form the Congressional Tri Caucus when they sit together. The ERA Caucus (Equal Rights Amendment Caucus)

1216-408: A single-payer reform, stating in the joint session of Congress that "it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch." Obama had previously expressed that he is a proponent of a single payer universal health care program during an AFL–CIO conference in 2003. A number of alternatives to the public option were proposed in

1292-422: A state-level public option and have been pursuing further action, while Delaware, Oregon, and Massachusetts have completed similar studies looking into state-level public options but have taken no additional action, and other state legislatures have considered either outright enacting a public option or at least passing legislation to establish an official study on a potential public option plan. The purpose behind

1368-643: A strong national defense and bipartisan consensus rather than conflict with Republicans". It acts as a check on legislation that its members perceive to be too far to the right or to the left on the political spectrum. In the 2010s, the Blue Dogs became more demographically diverse and less conservative. The Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in searching for a compromise between liberal and conservative positions, including classically liberal policies. Most of its members represent competitive swing districts , and are thus inclined to appeal to swing voters . In

1444-652: Is a group of members of the United States Congress that meet to pursue common legislative objectives. Formally, caucuses are formed as congressional member organizations ( CMOs ) through the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate and governed under the rules of these chambers . In addition to the term "caucus", they are sometimes called conferences (especially Republican ones), coalitions , study groups, task forces, or working groups. Many other countries use

1520-486: 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 . The most common caucuses consist of members united as an interest group . These are often bi-partisan (comprising both Democrats and Republicans) and bi-cameral (comprising both Representatives and Senators). Examples like

1596-433: The American Medical Association stated that Congress "should revisit a public plan to compete alongside private insurers in areas of the country where competition is limited." In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election , the public option, "once considered too far-reaching", had become "seen as a more moderate alternative" to proposals like Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan. A majority of candidates running in

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1672-620: The Congressional Bike Caucus works to promote cycling , and the Senate Taiwan Caucus promotes strong relationships with Taiwan. The House Committee on House Administration (HCHA) prescribes certain rules for Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs). Each Congress, CMOs must electronically register with the Committee on House Administration, providing the name of the caucus, a statement of purpose ,

1748-521: The Democratic primary , including Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg , preferred a healthcare plan that included a public option over a single payer plan, and some candidates who preferred a single payer plan said they would also accept a public option as a compromise or step along the way to single payer, such as Elizabeth Warren , who initially said "there's no excuse for stopping at half-measures" regarding single payer, but would later pivot to supporting

1824-616: The House Energy and Commerce Committee successfully delayed the House vote on the Health Insurance Reform Bill (HR3200) until after the summer recess. It was during this recess that the term 'Obamacare' was first derisively adopted by Republicans on Capitol Hill. Blue Dog opposition to a potential "public option" within Obamacare, together with the contentious town hall meetings faced by House members during

1900-504: The House of Representatives and the Senate to set legislative agendas, select committee members and chairs and hold elections to choose various floor leaders . They also oversee the four Hill committees , political party committees that work to elect members of their own party to Congress. Ideological congressional caucuses can represent a political party within a political party. In

1976-565: The health insurance exchange 's private plans sold to customers receiving federal subsidies. In mid-November, it was reported that 40 House Democrats would not support a final bill containing the Amendment's provisions. The amendment was abandoned after a deal was struck between Representative Bart Stupak and his voting bloc would vote for the bill as written in exchange for the signing of Executive Order 13535 . Former Congressman and Republican House Minority Whip Eric Cantor has argued that

2052-436: The "public option" currently under consideration by Congress for inclusion in the final health care reform bill. The 83,954 respondents assigned rankings of 0 to 10. A full national option had the most support, with an 8.56 average, while no public option was least favored, with a 1.10 average. Polls during 2019 have shown a majority support for a public option, including a Marist poll which found that 70% of Americans supported

2128-492: The 2009 summer recess, gave the healthcare law's Republican opponents an opportunity to attack the "public option" and get it removed from the bill. The Washington Post stated that the Blue Dogs, with over 50 members, were the most influential voting bloc in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. The Blue Dog Coalition suffered serious losses in the 2010 midterm elections , losing over half of its seats to Republican challengers. Its members, who were roughly one quarter of

2204-473: The Blue Dog Coalition numbered 54 members. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Coalition's focus shifted towards ideological centrism and pragmatic, constituency-based politics; however, the Coalition maintained an emphasis on fiscal responsibility. The Blue Dog Coalition remains the most conservative grouping of Democrats in the House. As of 2024, the caucus has eleven members. The Blue Dog Coalition

2280-482: The CMO officers and the employee designated to work on issues related to the CMO. The HCHA rules include the following: Public health insurance option As a result, Congress did not include the public option in the bill passed under reconciliation. The public option was later supported by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party in the 2016 and 2020 elections and multiple other Democratic candidates, including

2356-448: The Coalition included 10 members. At that point, the Coalition's membership was smaller than it had ever been since its formation. The co-chairs of the Blue Dog Coalition for the 118th Congress are U.S. representatives Jared Golden , Mary Peltola , and Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez . Alaska California Georgia Maine New Jersey North Carolina Texas Washington Congressional caucus A congressional caucus

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2432-555: The Democratic Party's caucus in the 111th Congress, accounted for half of the party's midterm election losses. Including retirements, Blue Dog numbers in the House were reduced from 59 members in 2009 to 26 members in 2011. Two of the Coalition's four leaders ( Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Baron Hill ) failed to secure re-election. The caucus shrank even more in the 2012 House of Representatives elections , decreasing in size from 27 to 14 members. Speculation ensued that

2508-805: The Democratic Platform Committee approved a plank supporting the addition of a public option onto the Affordable Care Act. The decision was seen as a compromise measure between the Hillary Clinton campaign who during the 2016 presidential primaries advocated for keeping and reforming the ACA, and the Bernie Sanders campaign who advocated for repealing and replacing the ACA with a single-payer Medicare for All program. The Clinton campaign stated shortly before

2584-641: The Democrats' gains in the House. In 2018, for the first time since 2006, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee partnered with the Blue Dog PAC (the Blue Dog Coalition's political organization) to recruit candidates in competitive districts across the country. After the 2018 House of Representatives elections , the caucus grew from 18 members to 24. All incumbents were re-elected and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema

2660-522: The Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and former Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine , believes that the result of a public option would be more "under-55's" opting to pay the fine rather than purchase insurance under a public option scenario, instead advocating lowering the Medicare age to 55. The chief executive of Aetna , Ron Williams , argued against

2736-588: The ERA, marching on April 28, 2023 to the Senate in support of S.J. Res 4, the bill to affirm the ERA. The Southern Caucus was a Senate caucus of Southern Democrats chaired by Richard Russell , which opposed civil rights legislation and formed a vital part of the conservative coalition that dominated the Senate into the 1960s. The tone of the Southern Caucus was to be more moderate and reasonable than

2812-534: The Medicare You Can Buy Into Act, ( H.R. 4789 ). In the first two bills, the public option took the form of a Qualified Health Benefit Plan competing with similar private insurance plans in an internet-based exchange or marketplace, enabling citizens and small businesses to purchase health insurance meeting a minimum federal standard. The Public Option Act, in contrast, would have allowed all citizens and permanent residents to buy into

2888-483: The Republican Party – both also had Rodrigue's paintings on their walls. An additional explanation for the term cited by members is "when dogs are not let into the house, they stay outside in the cold and turn blue", a reference to the Blue Dogs' belief they had been left out of a party that they believed had shifted to the political left. At one time, first-term Blue Dogs were nicknamed 'Blue Pups'. Starting in

2964-399: The Senate. Instead of creating a network of statewide public plans, Senator Olympia Snowe proposed a "trigger" in which a plan would be put into place at some point in the future in states that do not have more than a certain number of private insurance competitors. Senator Tom Carper has proposed an "opt-in" system in which state governments choose for themselves whether or not to institute

3040-527: The United States have monopolies in which one company, or a small set of companies, control the local market for health insurance. Economist and The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman also wrote that local insurance monopolies exist in many of the smaller states, accusing those who oppose the idea of a public insurance plan as defenders of local monopolies. He also argued that traditional ideas of beneficial market competition do not apply to

3116-473: 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. 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

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3192-541: The ability of cooperatives to compete. While politically difficult, some politicians and observers have argued for a single-payer system . A bill, the Medicare for All Act , was first proposed by Representative John Conyers in 2003 and has been perennially proposed since, including during the debate on the public option and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. President Obama came out against

3268-430: The average paid by private insurers but charging lower premiums than them, thus creating a more widely accepted, competitive product- making it the obvious choice and forcing private health insurers to create their own, similar reasonably priced, more full-featured insurance plans. A public option would be able to offer such competitive options, as they would not be operating as a traditional for-profit business, whereby

3344-519: The campaign against the public option. Many Democratic politicians were publicly in favor of the public option for a variety of reasons. President Obama continued campaigning for the public option during the debate. In a public rally in Cincinnati on September 7, 2009, President Obama said: "I continue to believe that a public option within the basket of insurance choices would help improve quality and bring down costs." The president also addressed

3420-428: The caucus is to work for LGBT rights , the repeal of laws discriminatory against LGBT persons, the elimination of hate-motivated violence , and improved health and well-being for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation , gender identity , or gender expression . The caucus serves as a resource for Members of Congress , their staffs, and the public on LGBT issues. The LGBT Equality Caucus admits any member who

3496-484: The centrist New Democrat Coalition would fill the power vacuum created by the Blue Dog Coalition's decline. Opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and climate change legislation are believed to have contributed to the defeat of two conservative Democrats in the 2012 House elections in Pennsylvania by more liberal opponents. In the 2016 elections, future Blue Dogs accounted for over half of

3572-550: The closely divided 118th Congress. The effort included a recruitment drive which prompted Mary Peltola (AK-AL), Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (WA-03), and Wiley Nickel (NC-13) to join, bringing the number of members back up to 10. Under the leadership of Peltola, Perez, and Representative Jared Golden , the caucus shifted its focus towards ideological centrism and pragmatic, constituency-based (especially rural and working-class) politics. The Blue Dog Coalition's positions are socially liberal and fiscally conservative . Historically,

3648-487: The current President, Joe Biden . The public option was featured in three bills considered by the United States House of Representatives in 2009: the proposed Affordable Health Care for America Act ( H.R. 3962 ), which was passed by the House in 2009, its predecessor, the proposed America's Affordable Health Choices Act ( H.R. 3200 ), and a third bill, the Public Option Act, also referred to as

3724-574: The current health care bill being considered by Congress that did not include a public option, a change from their findings in July of that year. An NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll, conducted August 15–17, found that 47% of Americans opposed the idea of a public option and 43% expressed support. A July 2009 survey by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found that 28% of Americans would like to purchase

3800-589: The early years of the caucus, the Blue Dogs were viewed by some as the political successors to Southern Democratic groups such as the Boll Weevils or conservative coalition . The Boll Weevils may, in turn, be considered the descendants of the Dixiecrats and the " states' rights " Democrats of the 1940s through the 1960s, and even the Bourbon Democrats of the late 19th century. In 2014, there

3876-631: The enactment of a public option first before transitioning to a single payer system. Attempts to implement a public option have also been made at the state level. In May 2019, a law was passed and signed in Washington for the establishment of a public option, which is the first law for a public option to be passed at the state level, and is intended make a public option plan for purchase in 2021. The Cascade Select program which requires private insurance companies to provide alternative plans, known as Cascade Select plans, which are overseen, but not run, by

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3952-617: The explicit white supremacism of some Southern Senators. The caucus was where the Southern Manifesto was written which supported the reversal of the landmark Supreme Court 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education and was signed by 19 Senators and 82 Representatives. The formation of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus was announced on June 4, 2008, by openly gay members of congress Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank . The mission of

4028-445: The federal poverty level. An alternative proposal is to subsidize private, non-profit health insurance cooperatives to get them to become large and established enough to possibly provide cost savings Democratic politicians such as Howard Dean were critical of abandoning a public option in favor of co-ops, raising questions about the ability of the cooperatives to compete with existing private insurers. Paul Krugman also questioned

4104-494: The final bill. While the United States House of Representatives passed a public option in their version of the bill, the public option was voted down in the Senate Finance Committee and the public option was never included in the final Senate bill, instead opting for state-directed health insurance exchanges . Critics of the removal of the public option accused President Obama of making an agreement to drop

4180-414: The grouping adhered to social conservatism . Although its members have evolved on social issues over time, the group has never taken a position on social issues as a caucus. Scholars and journalists positioned the group as centrist to centre-left , and historically centre-right . The Blue Dog Coalition is the most conservative grouping of Democrats in the House. It "advocates for fiscal responsibility,

4256-463: The health care plan wanted by the White House and Democrats. This poll also found that 65% of physicians oppose the White House and Democratic version of health reform. Statistician and polling expert Nate Silver has criticized that IBD/TIPP poll for what he calls its unusual methodology and bias and for the fact that it was incomplete when published as responses were still coming in. In 2019,

4332-460: The insurance industry given that insurers mainly compete by risk selection, claiming that "[t]he most successful companies are those that do the best job of denying coverage to those who need it most." Economist and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich argued that only a "big, national, public option" can force insurance companies to cooperate, share information, and reduce costs while accusing insurance and pharmaceutical companies of leading

4408-455: The lack of a profit motive reduces incentives to eliminate wasteful administrative costs. Robert E. Moffit of The Heritage Foundation argued that a public plan in competition in private plans would likely be used as a "dumping ground" for families and individuals with higher than average health risks. This, in his view, would lead to costs that business should pay being passed onto the taxpayer. Marcia Angell , M. D., Senior Lecturer in

4484-486: The left. It is related to the political term " Yellow Dog Democrat ", a reference to Southern Democrats said to be "so loyal they would even vote for a yellow dog before they would vote for any Republican". The term also refers to the "Blue Dog" paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana as the original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes , both of whom later joined

4560-760: The main priority is maximization of profits, as is the case of private health insurers- but instead operate much like a non-profit organization , whereby all funds acquired through premiums , minus operating expenses , could be paid out on claims (directly benefiting the policy holder , rather than a disproportionate amount of revenue generated from premiums paid to the insurer by the policy holder serving typical corporate uses, such as multimillion-dollar executive salaries and bonuses, stock dividends , and excess cash flows). Additionally, government influence and power would be leveraged to encourage (primarily) hospitals (as well as medical groups and collectives) to switch medical workers currently paid directly by insurers on

4636-429: The most cost effective methods and treatments, and work in more cooperative teams, which would allow for employees to be salaried, as opposed to the current system where the highest paid workers (mainly doctors and specialized teams) are paid individually for each procedure they perform/patient they treat. Supporters of a public plan, such as columnist E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post , argue that many places in

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4712-540: The party-dues boycott was contained in remarks made by Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California , encouraging leaders of anti-war groups to field primary challenges to any Democrat who did not vote to end the war in Iraq . Woolsey later stated that she was misunderstood, but the Blue Dogs continued the boycott. Donations to party congressional committees are an important source of funding for the party committees, permitting millions of dollars to be funneled back into close races. In

4788-415: The plank was added that as president Clinton would "pursue efforts to give Americans in every state in the country the choice of a public-option insurance plan", while Bernie Sanders applauded the decision to "see that all Americans have the right to choose a public option in their health care exchange, which will lower the cost of healthcare". The call was echoed by President Obama, who in an article for

4864-399: The programs started. President Barack Obama promoted the idea of the public option while running for election in 2008. Following his election, Obama downplayed the need for a public health insurance option, including calling it a "sliver" of health care reform, but still campaigned for the option up until the health care reform was passed. Ultimately, the public option was removed from

4940-564: The public option based on issues of fairness. On the News Hour with Jim Lehrer , Williams noted that a public option creates a situation where "you have in essence a player in the industry who is a participant in the market, but also is a regulator and a referee in the game". He said, "we think that those two roles really don't work well." Public polling has shown mixed support for a public option. A Rasmussen Reports poll taken on August 17–18, 2009, stated that 57% of Americans did not support

5016-599: The public option from the final plan, but the record showed that the agreement was based on vote counts rather than backroom deals, as substantiated by the final vote in the Senate. In January 2013, Representative Jan Schakowsky and 44 other Democratic representatives introduced H.R. 261 , the Public Option Deficit Reduction Act, which would amend the Affordable Care Act to create a public option. The bill would set up

5092-577: The public option was to make more affordable health insurance for uninsured citizens who are either unable to afford the premiums of private health insurers or are rejected by private health insurers due to pre-existing condition. Supporters also argued (and proposed possible ways) that a government insurance company (public option) could put pressure on private health insurance companies to lower their premium costs and accept more reasonable profit margins, while also encouraging them to create more competitive plans with wider coverage, as well as eventually creating

5168-409: The start of the 118th Congress in January 2023, six of the 15 members of the Coalition departed following a failed attempt to rename the group to the "Common Sense Coalition". Freshman representative Don Davis , who was expected to join the Blue Dogs, also chose not to do so. After this split, the group reorganized and began an effort to stabilize, rebuild, and maintain influence on policy proposals in

5244-468: The state; the alternative plans are sold on the ACA marketplace alongside ACA-compliant private insurance plans. The law caps provider payments on Cascade Select plans at 160% of Medicare payment rates. The Washington state law has been variably described as both a "public option" and a "public-private partnership". Similar legislation was passed in 2021 in both Colorado and Nevada . New Mexico has also passed legislation establishing official studies into

5320-485: The summer of 2009, The Economist said the following regarding the Blue Dog Coalition: "The debate over health care ... may be the pinnacle of the group's power so far." The Economist quoted Charlie Stenholm, a founding Blue Dog, as stating that "This is the first year for the new kennel in which their votes are really going to make a difference". In July 2009, Blue Dog members who were committee members of

5396-841: The term parliamentary group ; the Parliament of the United Kingdom has many all-party parliamentary groups . The largest caucuses are the party caucuses comprising all members of one house from one party (either the Democrats or the Republicans ) in addition to any independent members who may caucus with either party. These are the House Democratic Caucus , House Republican Conference , Senate Democratic Caucus and Senate Republican Conference . The caucuses meet regularly in closed sessions for both

5472-576: The twenty-first century, the caucus began shifting its ideology and began adopting more socially liberal stances in order to align more closely with mainstream Democratic Party political values. In 2007, 15 Blue Dogs in safe seats rebelled, and refused to contribute party dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee . An additional 16 Blue Dogs did not pay any money to the DCCC, but were exempt from party-mandated contributions because they were top GOP targets for defeat in 2008. One reason for

5548-402: Was elected to the U.S. Senate from Arizona. The caucus also added 11 new members who defeated Republican incumbents in the 2018 election in districts that had voted for Donald Trump in 2016. The Democratic Party lost seats in the 2020 and 2022 House of Representatives elections, including the Blue Dog Coalition. As of April 2024, during the 118th Congress , the Coalition had 10 members. At

5624-570: 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, having met all requirements of Article V in 2020 with the ratification by the 38th state, Virginia. 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

5700-496: Was formed in 1995 during the 104th Congress to give members from the Democratic Party representing conservative-leaning districts a unified voice after the Democrats' loss of Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution . The term "Blue Dog Democrat" is credited to Texas Democratic Representative Pete Geren (who later joined the George W. Bush administration ). Geren opined that the members had been "choked blue" by Democrats on

5776-400: Was no mention of social issues in the official Blue Dog materials. By January 2019, McClatchy reported a transformation of the Blue Dogs from a coalition of 'southern white men' to 'a multi-regional, multicultural group.' At that time, the coalition included two African-American members, one Vietnamese-American, one Mexican-American, and only five members from Southern states. As of April 2024,

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