Meet the new progressive leaders in the House of Representatives

The House Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) renewed leadership heading into the next Congress. After nearly four years of Pramila Jayapal as chairman, Rep. Greg Casar will take over to set the course for the large legislative group, which currently has 95 members.

Casar, 35, a member of "the Squad," said he is used to fighting "extremist" Republicans and "self-centered autocrats."

"It will be our job to be defense against extreme policies from Trump and his billionaire friends. But it will also be up to the CPC to build a vision of a Democratic Party," the new CPC chairman added.

Ilhan Omar (D-MN) will work with him. She will remain in her post as vice chairman, as will Jesús Chuy García (D-CA), who will serve as whip for the group.

"The Caucus Progressive Caucus is committed to fighting for working people. I am honored to be elected as Whip for the 119th Congress and am ready to stand strong and fight for people-centered policies rooted in equity and justice for all," Garcia celebrated on his social media.

"The Democratic Party needs to be a little less like Joe Manchin"

Greg Casar represents Texas' 35th district in the House of Representatives. He took office in January 2023 and has since advocated raising the minimum wage and ending aid to Israel.

He joined 18 other House members in denouncing the provision of military aid to Israel, asserting that it "could result in more killing of civilians in Rafah and elsewhere." He even participated in some of the university protests against Israel. For example, he was present at the University of Texas at Austin.

After being elected to lead the CPC, Casar gave a speech in which he sharply criticized "establishment" Democrats.

“Many of the voters that I’ve spoken to in places like Texas that swapped their votes from Biden to Trump, or were considering doing so, is because they want to hear from a more authentic Democratic Party that isn’t beholden to any other interest other than working people’s interest. I think that that has less to do with any particular candidate and more to do with the definition of who we are as Democrats," the Texas Democrat said.

"The Democratic Party was a little bit more like Chairwoman Jayapal and a little less like Joe Manchin, I think we would have won this election," he added.

The CPC was founded in 1991 and has been the second-largest Democratic legislative group in the House since then. As its name indicates, it represents the party's progressive faction and reached its highest number of members during the previous Congress, when it had 100 members.