Meet ‘the five families’ that wield power in McCarthy’s House majority (2024)

It all started with a meeting that then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) convened after the midterm elections. He wanted to discuss how a razor-thin Republican majority would operate — and whether he still had a pathway to lead the fractious Republican conference and become speaker of the House.

As lawmakers streamed out of the leadership office late last year, many emerged with mixed reactions to the meeting. But one common observation emerged: McCarthy had intentionally brought in representatives from each of the Republicans’ five ideological caucuses, reminiscent of how “the five families” in “The Godfather” met to strategize in an effort to keep the peace.

The comparison stuck.

Each week the House is in session, the chairs of the five caucuses meet in the speaker’s office to discuss how lawmakers in their individual factions feel about bills that are set to be voted on in the near term and strategize about how to reach common ground on more consequential items that must be addressed in the not-so-distant future.

The “five families” represent a range of views, from the most moderate who are willing to work with Democrats to the ultraconservative who often push leadership to accept their demands in return for their votes.

Most Republicans belong to at least one group, but many claim membership in more than one because of personal interests and political leanings.

Fourteen Republicans choose not to be a part of any of the five families. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has notoriously become an independent voice within the conference, a badge he wears proudly by not belonging to any group. Others would rather focus on their district or belong to an issues-based caucus, such as the longest-serving Republican in the House, Rep. Harold Rogers (Ky.), who founded the Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus.

As the top Republicans overseeing a four-vote majority, McCarthy and his leadership team have an incentive to ensure that all factions feel included as they face the daunting tasks of raising the debt ceiling and keeping the government funded this year, among other must-pass items. McCarthy’s chances of keeping the speakership largely hinge on how he navigates the demands within his conference, especially after several far-right members, mostly from the Freedom Caucus, almost prevented him from taking the speaker’s gavel. He succeeded after he relented to their specific demand to change a rule that would allow him to be ousted from his position in a recall vote that could be demanded by a single lawmaker.

To ensure that a wide variety of members’ input is heard, McCarthy tasked Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a trusted ally, to chair the Elected Leadership Committee (ELC). The group is significantly larger than the five chairs meeting, with over a dozen participants from each family, giving more members an opportunity to directly express their opinions for leaders to consider.

Yet not all Republicans love the “five families” reference; in “The Godfather,” the relationship eventually ends in bloodshed. Leaders in particular bemoan the moniker because it assumes that instead of keeping the peace, Republicans will ultimately turn on one another this congressional term.

To determine the ideological makeup of each group, The Washington Post approximated each member’s score below using a measure called DW-NOMINATE, which estimates each lawmaker’s ideology based on voting records.

While membership in these groups is not always publicly available, The Post identified affiliations based on publicly available lists, verifying allegiances with conference staff members and checking with individual offices. Learn more about each group below and see a full list of members, according to our reporting.

The Problem Solvers Caucus is the only bipartisan ideological group in the House, making it the most moderate of the five families. Established in 2017, its membership is quite exclusive because a lawmaker can only be accepted if a member from the opposing party joins at the same time. Sixty-three members now make up the group after 12 Republicans joined this term.

The group is led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). Both serve as the caucus’s co-chairs, but only Fitzpatrick plays an outsize role in meetings with GOP leadership as a close McCarthy ally.

Given their bipartisan nature, the Problem Solvers, many of whom represent swing districts, influence the legislative process by pushing policies that could realistically achieve consensus. The group serves as a key gauge for leaders because they can reliably get an early sense of how many votes they can lose within their own party once informed about how many in the opposing party will cross the aisle and cast a vote with the majority.

The Republican Governance Group or “RG2,” as it is informally called in the GOP conference, was first established in 1994 as the home for conservatives after Republicans swept back into the majority for the first time in decades. Since then, the group has undergone a name change — it was once known as the “Tuesday Group” after the day its members would gather — and it has moved more toward the center as a fiscally conservative and socially moderate Republican group, with most members voting in support of the Respect for Marriage Act last year. The group remains open to finding consensus with Democrats.

Its influence waned under majorities with larger margins. But with only four votes to spare for the GOP majority this Congress, the group is working to exert leverage in policy negotiations and is fiercely defensive over ensuring that its most vulnerable colleagues do not take hard votes that could risk the majority in 2024. Chairman David Joyce (Ohio) made it explicitly clear to McCarthy during the speakership fight that McCarthy must run any decisions or deals he may strike with more conservative caucuses through RG2 because the group has always had McCarthy’s back.

The Republican Main Street Caucus stands at the center of all the ideological caucuses, but don’t mistake its members for moderates. Lawmakers hail from ruby-red areas to swing districts that Joe Biden won handily in 2020 and represent a range on the ideological spectrum. The through line for them is their willingness to cut deals to ensure common policy goals get passed through the House with only Republican votes. Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), who hails from a swing district, relaunched the group at the beginning of the last Congress, but it is now under the direction of Chair Dusty Johnson (S.D.) and Co-Chair Stephanie I. Bice (Okla.).

The Republican Study Committee remains the largest ideological group, with more than half of the House GOP conference claiming membership. With more than 170 members, the RSC reflects the most common conservative ideals of the Republican Party as it often has over its 50-year tenure.

Given its wide appeal, touting members from Problem Solvers to Freedom Caucus, the RSC has been traditionally known for releasing socially and economically conservative policy proposals that could serve as a road map for the GOP conference. Since 1995, the RSC has released a budget blueprint that consistently advocates for cuts in nondefense spending.

It has also become a launchpad for further ambition. Several of its chairmen have gone on to enter the top echelons of House leadership, such as Scalise, or national politics, such as former vice president Mike Pence. Last term’s chairman, Jim Banks (Ind.), tried to elevate the RSC’s national profile by proposing policies closely aligned with former president Donald Trump, while the current chairman, Kevin Hern (Okla.), has tried to return the committee to its studious roots.

The most ideologically conservative group among congressional Republicans is the House Freedom Caucus. Known for pushing Trump’s “America First” vision, the Freedom Caucus has historically been a thorn in leadership’s side. The group, founded in 2015 as the far-right offshoot of the RSC, bonded over dislike of then-Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). Its power was on display when it worked to oust Boehner and, later, Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) as the top Republican in the House. This year, the group made it painfully difficult for McCarthy to assume the speakership.

With roughly 35 members on its roster — which has never been made public — the group remains the smallest ideological faction of just Republicans. But this majority’s slim margin makes the Freedom Caucus influential in any negotiation, with many members already drawing red lines ahead of budget debates. The group also includes many who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election and are against sending funds to Ukraine to support its forces against Russia’s invasion.

The group is currently led by Chairman Scott Perry (Pa.), but it has previously been under the leadership of Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Reps. Mark Meadows (N.C.) and Mick Mulvaney (S.C.), who went on to serve as Trump chiefs of staff.

If you’re curious about what ideological caucus each representative has chosen to belong to, explore the full list of affiliations among House Republicans below.

Filter by family

Member	Problem Solvers	Governance Group	Main Street	Study Committee	Freedom Caucus
Aderholt Ala. 4th
Alford Mo. 4th
Allen Ga. 12th
Amodei Nev. 2nd
Armstrong N.D. At large
Arrington Tex. 19th
Babin Tex. 36th
Bacon Neb. 2nd
Baird Ind. 4th
Balderson Ohio 12th
Banks Ind. 3rd
Barr Ky. 6th
Bean Fla. 4th
Bentz Ore. 2nd
Bergman Mich. 1st
Bice Okla. 5th
Biggs Ariz. 5th
Bilirakis Fla. 12th
Bishop N.C. 8th
Boebert Colo. 3rd
Bost Ill. 12th
Brecheen Okla. 2nd
Buchanan Fla. 16th
Buck Colo. 4th
Bucshon Ind. 8th
Burchett Tenn. 2nd
Burgess Tex. 26th
Burlison Mo. 7th
Calvert Calif. 41st
Cammack Fla. 3rd
Carey Ohio 15th
Carl Ala. 1st
Carter Ga. 1st
Carter Tex. 31st
Chavez-DeRemer Ore. 5th
Ciscomani Ariz. 6th
Cline Va. 6th
Cloud Tex. 27th
Clyde Ga. 9th
Cole Okla. 4th
Collins Ga. 10th
Comer Ky. 1st
Crane Ariz. 2nd
Crawford Ark. 1st
Crenshaw Tex. 2nd
Curtis Utah 3rd
D'Esposito N.Y. 4th
Davidson Ohio 8th
De La Cruz Tex. 15th
DesJarlais Tenn. 4th
Diaz-Balart Fla. 26th
Donalds Fla. 19th
Duarte Calif. 13th
Duncan S.C. 3rd
Dunn Fla. 2nd
Edwards N.C. 11th
Ellzey Tex. 6th
Emmer Minn. 6th
Estes Kan. 4th
Ezell Miss. 4th
Fallon Tex. 4th
Feenstra Iowa 4th
Ferguson Ga. 3rd
Finstad Minn. 1st
Fischbach Minn. 7th
Fitzgerald Wis. 5th
Fitzpatrick Pa. 1st
Fleischmann Tenn. 3rd
Flood Neb. 1st
Foxx N.C. 5th
Franklin Fla. 18th
Fry S.C. 7th
Fulcher Idaho 1st
Gaetz Fla. 1st
Gallagher Wis. 8th
Garbarino N.Y. 2nd
Garcia Calif. 27th
Giménez Fla. 28th
Gonzales Tex. 23rd
Good Va. 5th
Gooden Tex. 5th
Gosar Ariz. 9th
Granger Tex. 12th
Graves La. 6th
Graves Mo. 6th
Green Tenn. 7th
Greene Ga. 14th
Griffith Va. 9th
Grothman Wis. 6th
Guest Miss. 3rd
Guthrie Ky. 2nd
Hageman Wyo. At large
Harris Md. 1st
Harshbarger Tenn. 1st
Hern Okla. 1st
Higgins La. 3rd
Hill Ark. 2nd
Hinson Iowa 2nd
Houchin Ind. 9th
Hudson N.C. 9th
Huizenga Mich. 4th
Hunt Tex. 38th
Issa Calif. 48th
Jackson Tex. 13th
James Mich. 10th
Johnson La. 4th
Johnson Ohio 6th
Johnson S.D. At large
Jordan Ohio 4th
Joyce Ohio 14th
Joyce Pa. 13th
Kean Jr. N.J. 7th
Kelly Miss. 1st
Kelly Pa. 16th
Kiggans Va. 2nd
Kiley Calif. 3rd
Kim Calif. 40th
Kustoff Tenn. 8th
LaHood Ill. 16th
LaLota N.Y. 1st
LaMalfa Calif. 1st
LaTurner Kan. 2nd
Lamborn Colo. 5th
Langworthy N.Y. 23rd
Latta Ohio 5th
Lawler N.Y. 17th
Lee Fla. 15th
Lesko Ariz. 8th
Letlow La. 5th
Loudermilk Ga. 11th
Lucas Okla. 3rd
Luetkemeyer Mo. 3rd
Luna Fla. 13th
Luttrell Tex. 8th
Mace S.C. 1st
Malliotakis N.Y. 11th
Mann Kan. 1st
Massie Ky. 4th
Mast Fla. 21st
McCarthy Calif. 20th
McCaul Tex. 10th
McClain Mich. 9th
McClintock Calif. 5th
McCormick Ga. 6th
McHenry N.C. 10th
McMorris Rodgers Wash. 5th
Meuser Pa. 9th
Miller Ill. 15th
Miller Ohio 7th
Miller W.Va. 1st
Miller-Meeks Iowa 1st
Mills Fla. 7th
Molinaro N.Y. 19th
Moolenaar Mich. 2nd
Mooney W.Va. 2nd
Moore Ala. 2nd
Moore Utah 1st
Moran Tex. 1st
Murphy N.C. 3rd
Nehls Tex. 22nd
Newhouse Wash. 4th
Norman S.C. 5th
Nunn Iowa 3rd
Obernolte Calif. 23rd
Ogles Tenn. 5th
Owens Utah 4th
Palmer Ala. 6th
Pence Ind. 6th
Perry Pa. 10th
Pfluger Tex. 11th
Posey Fla. 8th
Reschenthaler Pa. 14th
Rogers Ala. 3rd
Rogers Ky. 5th
Rose Tenn. 6th
Rosendale Mont. 2nd
Rouzer N.C. 7th
Roy Tex. 21st
Rutherford Fla. 5th
Salazar Fla. 27th
Santos N.Y. 3rd
Scalise La. 1st
Schweikert Ariz. 1st
Scott Ga. 8th
Self Tex. 3rd
Sessions Tex. 17th
Simpson Idaho 2nd
Smith Mo. 8th
Smith Neb. 3rd
Smith N.J. 4th
Smucker Pa. 11th
Spartz Ind. 5th
Stauber Minn. 8th
Steel Calif. 45th
Stefanik N.Y. 21st
Steil Wis. 1st
Steube Fla. 17th
Stewart Utah 2nd
Strong Ala. 5th
Tenney N.Y. 24th
Thompson Pa. 15th
Tiffany Wis. 7th
Timmons S.C. 4th
Turner Ohio 10th
Valadao Calif. 22nd
Van Drew N.J. 2nd
Van Duyne Tex. 24th
Van Orden Wis. 3rd
Wagner Mo. 2nd
Walberg Mich. 5th
Waltz Fla. 6th
Weber Tex. 14th
Webster Fla. 11th
Wenstrup Ohio 2nd
Westerman Ark. 4th
Williams N.Y. 22nd
Williams Tex. 25th
Wilson S.C. 2nd
Wittman Va. 1st
Womack Ark. 3rd
Yakym Ind. 2nd
Zinke Mont. 1st

Chris Alcantara contributed to this report.