Chairman Tim Huelskamp (KS) National affiliation Republican Party | Founder Michele Bachmann (MN) | |
Founded July 19, 2010; 6 years ago (2010-07-19) Ideology Fiscal conservatism
Social conservatism
Right-wing populism Political position Center-Right to Right-wing | ||
The Tea Party Caucus (TPC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. The now largely inactive Caucus is chaired by Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, and was founded and first chaired by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in July 2010. Though the primary functions of the Caucus have varied from year to year, its members have promoted budget cuts, including significant cuts in non-defense spending and adherence to the movement's interpretation of the Constitution. The caucus's members have also advocated socially conservative legislation, supported the right to keep and bear arms, and promoted limited government.
Contents
The idea of a Tea Party Caucus originated from Rand Paul (KY) when he was campaigning for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The Caucus was approved as an official congressional member organization by the House Administration Committee on July 19, 2010, and held its first meeting and public event, a press conference on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, on July 21. A similar informal Caucus was formed in the Senate by four Senators on January 27, 2011.
Although the Tea Party is not a party in the classic sense of the word, research has shown that members of the Tea Party Caucus vote like a third party in Congress.
Tea Party movement
An article in Politico stated that many Tea Party activists see the Caucus as an effort by the Republican Party to hijack the movement. Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz refused to join the Caucus, saying "Structure and formality are the exact opposite of what the Tea Party is, and if there is an attempt to put structure and formality around it, or to co-opt it by Washington, D.C., it’s going to take away from the free-flowing nature of the true tea party movement."
In an attempt to quell fears that Washington insiders were attempting to co-opt the Tea Party movement, Michele Bachmann stated "We're not the mouthpiece. We are not taking the Tea Party and controlling it from Washington, D.C. We are also not here to vouch for the Tea Party or to vouch for any Tea Party organizations or to vouch for any individual people or actions, or billboards or signs or anything of the Tea Party. We are the receptacle."
Additionally, Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio of Florida, all Tea Party supporters, refused to join the caucus. Toomey said he would be "open" to joining, and spoke at the first meeting, but did not ultimately join. Johnson said that he declined to join because he wanted to "work towards a unified Republican Conference, so that's where I will put my energy." Rubio criticized the caucus, saying "My fear has always been that if you start creating these little clubs or organizations in Washington run by politicians, the movement starts to lose its energy."
Current status
From July 2012 to April 2013 the Tea Party Caucus neither met nor posted news on its webpage, leading observers to describe it as "dead," "inactive," and "defunct." In April 2013, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina filed paperwork to create a new Tea Party Caucus, but found that Michele Bachmann intended to continue the caucus, starting with an event on April 25, 2013. On June 19, 2014, Tea Party Caucus member Steve Scalise of Louisiana was elected as the House Majority Whip. The Caucus was reconstituted in the 114th Congress in January 2015.
Ideology
The Tea Party Caucus is often viewed as taking conservative positions, and advocating for both social and fiscal conservatism. Analysis of voting patterns confirm that Caucus members are more conservative than other House Republicans, especially on fiscal matters. Voting trends to the right of the median Republican, and Tea Party Caucus members represent more conservative, southern and affluent districts. Supporters of the Tea Party movement itself are largely economic driven.
Despite the Caucus members differing degrees of economic and social conservatism, they generally work to promote positions within the House of Representatives that are to the right-of those of the House Republican Conference. Caucus members are an important swing vote on spending bills and as a result have gained influence in Congress out of proportion to their numbers. They are frequently sought after to broker compromises amongst the Republican leadership, generally lending a more right-wing character to U.S. politics. Since the advent of the Tea Party Caucus in 2010, party-line voting has increased for both Democrats and Republicans.
Funding
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the top contributors to the Tea Party Caucus members are health professionals, retirees, the real estate industry and oil and gas interests. The Center said the contributions to Caucus members from these groups, plus those from Republican and conservative groups, are on average higher than those of House members in general and also those of other Republicans. The average Tea Party Caucus member received more than $25,000 from the oil and gas industry, compared to about $13,000 for the average House member and $21,500 for the average House Republican.
House
The Caucus chair was Michele Bachmann of Minnesota between 2010 and her retirement in 2015. Tim Huelskamp was elected as the Caucus' second chair in January 2015, but was defeated in the 2016 Republican primary by Roger Marshall. Of a possible 435 Representatives, as of January 6, 2013, the committee had 48 members, all Republicans. At its height, the Caucus had 60 members in 2011.
Several members of the Tea Party Caucus are part of the Republican leadership. Thomas E. Price serves as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, making him the seventh ranking Republican in the House, John R. Carter is the Secretary of the House Republican Conference, ranking him the ninth ranking Republican, and Pete Sessions is the number six Republican as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Other former members of the Tea Party Caucus hold committee chairmanships such as Lamar S. Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Retired
Senate
The Senate has an informal Tea Party Caucus, founded in 2011.