Haley Stevens of Michigan and Colin Allred of Texas, who were elected by their fellow freshmen to be co-class presidents, as well as four other members picked to sit in on leadership and strategy meetings: Reps: Katie Hill of California, Joe Neguse of Colorado, Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Lauren Underwood of Illinois. Then there’s the “Big Six” - the six freshmen designated as liaisons to leadership and who became close as they coordinated the early days of the 116th Congress. Before they knew it, the squad had become synonymous with the rising progressive forces looking to remake the Democratic Party. I just wrote ‘squad’ and it stuck,” said the 29-year-old Ocasio-Cortez, who has more than 3 million Twitter followers. “It was literally a joke from that Instagram post. And their joint policy statements snag more news coverage than those of some committee chairmen. They regularly pose for selfies together on their prolific Instagram pages with captions like “sister love” and “album dropping.” They rush to each other’s defense when one is attacked by the right. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Indeed, the most well known group, by far, is the “squad” of progressive women of color: Reps. Max Rose, a 32-year-old New Yorker, who was awarded a Purple Heart while serving in Afghanistan and hopes that his gang of military moderates can duplicate the success of the new stars on the left. “It is like high school - I just hope I’m better at it,” quipped Rep. Together, these freshmen have a much better chance of bending the fractious caucus in their direction. The creation of such alliances is a longtime tradition on Capitol Hill - a play not just for friendship, but influence. Within the House class of 2018, the biggest in a generation, some of the most high-profile Democratic freshmen have begun to splinter off into their own cliques. They now text everyday in a group chat, are seated together on the House floor and eat Chinese food while waiting for late-night votes. Spanberger stuck with the group, solidifying the ties of former CIA agents, Marine Corps vets and a Navy helicopter pilot who have become one of the most visible crews of freshmen roaming the House. or give up on your friends?” she recalled in an interview. “I had that split-second moment, like, do I choose an office I haven’t seen. The Virginia Democrat had hoped to grab an office next to her closest buddies in the new Congress - a group of fellow military veterans who’ve dubbed themselves the “Gang of Nine.” But she hadn’t gotten a chance to check out the spot her colleagues had chosen and it was time to make a decision.
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