Caucuses, Party

Changing Caucus Role

From 1800 to 1824, party caucuses in the House doubled as the national organizations for the major parties, choosing the nominees for president and vice president. By the 1830s, national party conventions had begun to select presidential nominees, and the importance of both major parties' caucuses had diminished.

In the 1890s, the caucuses were revived as forums for discussion of legislative strategy. But they were soon overshadowed by strong Speakers. Speaker Thomas Brackett reed, a Republican from Maine, and his successor, Joseph G. cannon, an Illinois Republican, used the caucus primarily to get their party's stamp of approval on decisions they had already made.

The caucus gained new life after the 1910 to 1911 revolt against Cannon's autocratic rule. The House took away from the Speaker authority to name the floor leader, select committee chairs, and make committee assignments. Those duties were shifted to the political parties. Democrats, when they gained the majority in 1911, used their caucus to solidify control of the House.

The House caucuses were also used as a way to secure votes on legislative issues. At that time, a two-thirds vote of the caucus could bind members to vote a certain way on legislation. House Republicans quickly abandoned this type of caucus; they even renamed their group a conference to clarify its role. Democrats used the binding rule during the first terms of presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt but later invoked it only on procedural or party issues.

[Page 88]The Democratic caucus was particularly strong during Wilson's first term (1913–1917). Wilson, a student of Congress, saw the caucus as an “antidote to the committees,” providing unity and cohesion to counter committee independence.

The committees grew even more independent as the unwritten seniority system became entrenched, beginning in the 1920s. The post of committee chair went automatically to the majority member with the longest record of service on a committee. The party leadership and the caucus were rarely involved and, as a result, were less able to hold the chairs accountable.

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