Blue America co-sponsored an event for Cori Bush last week. I meant to ask her— and forgot— if the Squad has formal meetings. I know the Congressional Progressive Caucus does, even if few members bother going to them, but I’m pretty sure the Squad doesn’t. No meetings, no officers, no dues, no secret handshakes… no membership list. It’s just kind of a an informal grouping of generally like-minded progressive members of Congress: AOC, Rashida, Ilhan, Ayanna, Jamaal, Cori.
The photo on the right is from Wikipedia, which noted that “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.’” Imagine if the Squad had ever welcomed someone like Kyrsten Sinema or Tulsi Gabbard-- each of whom has at one time or another tried passing herself off as a progressive or progressive-ish!
None of that has kept anyone who cares to— especially the media— from defining the Squad any way they want to and to suggest various members, even the kind of corrupt conservative piece of crap like Ritchie Torres who is as much Squad material as any random Blue Dog would be. And yesterday, it was Politico’s turn— with a great big picture of Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL), a Democratic Party version of George Santos, who has been widely sold as a progressive and may indeed, be progressive-ish. Or not. (When he announced a few days ago who he plans to work with in the 118th Congress it wasn’t any of the Squad members but New York Republican Mike Lawler.) Keep this in mind: "When you try hard to sell out before you even have anything to sell, you’ll never do anything for anyone but yourself."
I spoke with someone who worked with Frost at March for Our Lives. Maxwell, she told me, “doesn’t believe in anything. He’s for sale; he’s always been for sale.” One of the earliest buyers was Sam Bankman-Fried (for a million dollars). He also quickly sold out the Palestinian cause, after using Palestinian activists to help him launch his career. His former colleague at March for Our Lives also noted that Ritchie Torres is his role model, “a bad sign.”
The Politico piece was written by Nicholas Wu and he managed to come up with some sure bets— tried and tested progressives Summer Lee (PA) and Greg Casar (TX). I’ll vouch for both of them. Wu also mentioned Delia Ramirez (IL), Becca Balint (VT) and Frost. I’ve heard good stuff about Ramirez and Balint. And then there’s Frost. Wu also mentioned Robert Garcia, an actual conservative Republican activist— albeit an openly gay one— who’s identifying as a Democrat and Morgan McGarvey, an establishment guy. Frost, Garcia and McGarvey all won their nominations by beating actual progressives with the help of anti-progressive big money. Frost got about a million bucks from Sam and Gabe Bankman-Fried; Garcia got $1,002,730 from Bankman-Fried, $560,000 from AIPAC and $65,680 from Democratic Majority for Israel; and McGarvey took $971,552 from Bankman-Fried and $52,141 from Democratic Majority for Israel (which launders right-wing money into Democratic primaries to defeat progressives).
Wu admits that “ while there’s not a formal process to join the squad, many of the members-elect cited the progressive group as a model for how they hoped to govern. They praised the example set by members like first-term Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who last year slept overnight on the steps of the Capitol to protest the end of an eviction moratorium imposed during the pandemic. Days after she started her protest, the Biden administration announced it would continue the moratorium in most of the U.S. ‘I just appreciate her honesty, how authentic she is, but also how intentional she is about how to move the needle, even if it means outside of the legislative process,’ said Ramirez, who said her one-on-one with Bush during orientation was one of her ‘most profound conversations.’ The Illinoisian also said she was squad-member Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s (D-MA.) ‘biggest fan, and she knows this.’ The incoming liberals know legislation that addresses their goals will be next to impossible with a GOP-controlled House. Instead, they’re ready to whip out a different tool at their disposal: pushing the Biden administration to enact priorities through executive actions, no matter how short-lived they could prove to be.”
Casar is used to butting heads with the GOP and finding creative workarounds. His stint on the Democratic City Council in Austin, Texas was marked by statewide Republicans’ constant efforts to preempt much of their local legislation, such as when the Legislature passed a law that forced local governments to allow law enforcement to ask suspects about their immigration status. Casar said the city found a way to implement the legislation that effectively neutered the GOP-led law.
Additionally, the group is ready to use the time in the minority to shape Democratic priorities, looking to force tough intraparty conversations immediately. Lee, for example, said she wants to address efforts to shun progressive lawmakers through outside spending in elections. She personally faced a deluge of spending from outside entities in her race, including from the pro-Israel group AIPAC, that made her bid for a seat President Joe Biden won by 20 points by 20 points surprisingly competitive.
The influx of money, she said, “oftentimes impacts particularly progressives, but [also] Black and Brown folks and women as we are trying to break into a system that is already very hard and difficult for us to get into in the first place. So it stacks disadvantages.”
“We have to prioritize money in politics,” she added. “The progressive wing of the party is absolutely under attack.”
The same people who went after Summer Lee so viciously and almost defeated her— another kind of informal grouping, this one coordinated by Hakeem Jeffries— were the ones who helped Garcia, McGarvey and Frost win their primaries in overwhelmingly blue districts that are non-competitive in general elections.
I'm still waiting for the "squad" to *DO* their first useful thing. Talking isn't nothing, but it is nearly so. It hasn't changed standard democrap party policy. It didn't raise the minimum wage, give everyone MFA nor give the RR workers sick leave, did it? and, still, nobody is in prison for planning, funding, organizing, inciting and reconnoitering the 1-6 insurrection and murders. several are still in congress.
so... there's that.