• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Congressional Caucuses

Congressional Caucuses are formed by Members to provide a forum for issues or legislative agendas. A number of caucuses exist in the House and their primary function is to draw attention to issues of importance to their membership. There are nearly 300 such caucuses on the Hill, groups that champion special interests as varied as bicycling, shellfish, prayer and France. In addition to those that routinely make news, such as the Congressional Black Caucus, the Blue Dog Coalition and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the 2006 Congress's list of registered caucuses included 175 formed around single issues, 53 designated as country task forces, about 40 dedicated to business and industry and 20 or so others.

Any member of Congress may form a caucus, technically known as a "congressional member organization." Each must register with the House Administration Committee and include a statement of purpose. Unlike congressional committees, caucuses are not entitled to their own office space or staff, nor do they have access to official funds or franking privileges.

Members of Congress may form a Congressional Member Organization (“CMO”) in order to pursue common legislative objectives. Qualifying CMOs are eligible to establish an account to pay for employees and their expenses. Members of both the House and Senate may participate in CMO, but at least one of the Officers of the CMO must be a Member of the House. The participation of Senators in a CMO does not impact the scope of authorized CMO activities in any regard.

CMOs have no separate corporate or legal identity. A CMO is not an employing authority. The MRA may not directly support a CMO as an independent entity. A CMO may not be assigned separate office space. Neither CMOs nor individual Members may accept goods, funds, or services from private organizations or individuals to support the CMO. Members may use personal funds to support the CMO.

A Member of a CMO, in support of the objectives of that CMO, may utilize employees (including shared employees) and official resources under the control of the Member to assist the CMO in carrying out its legislative objectives, but no employees may be appointed in the name of a CMO. Business cards for individuals who work on CMO issues must list the employing authority before the name of the CMO. CMOs may have independent web pages when no official resources are used, outside of staff time, to create and support the site.