The 30 Something Working Group was a grouping of ten members of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Democratic caucus, most of whom were under the age of forty. Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

created the group in an effort reach out to younger American voters following a decline in support in recent elections. Active primarily during the

109th Congress The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005, to January 3, 2007, du ...

, when the Democrats were the minority party, the group's stated mission was "engaging the next generation of Americans further in government and the political process". For much of its history, the group was led by

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Deborah Wasserman Schultz ( Wasserman; ; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for , first elected to Congress in United States House of Representatives elec ...

and

Kendrick Meek Kendrick Brett Meek (born September 6, 1966) is an American politician and current fossil fuel industry spokesperson, who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2011. After serving in both houses of the Florida Legislature, Meek was ...

, both of whom were from South Florida. While Congress was in session, members of the group often gave speeches to an empty House chamber; its main audience then being viewers on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Members

Jason Altmire Jason Altmire (born March 7, 1968) is an American businessman, author, lobbyist and politician. He is the former Democratic U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 until 2013. Prior to entering Congress, Altmire worked as a healthcare indust ...

() *

Dan Boren David Daniel Boren (born August 2, 1973) is a Native American businessman and politician who is the Secretary of Commerce for the Chickasaw Nation, based in Oklahoma. He is a retired American politician, who served as the U.S. representative fo ...

() *

Yvette Clarke Yvette Diane Clarke (born November 21, 1964) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

() *

Chris Murphy Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from the state of Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the U ...

() * Tim Ryan () *

Linda Sánchez Linda Teresa Sánchez (born January 28, 1969) is an American politician and former labor lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to Congress in 2002 in . Sánchez serve ...

() *

Heath Shuler Joseph Heath Shuler (born December 31, 1971) is an American former politician and professional football quarterback who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. The district covers the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Caro ...

() *

Bill Delahunt William David Delahunt (; July 18, 1941March 30, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing from 1997 to 2011. Delahunt did not ...

() — Honorary member

Legacy

According to Representative Ryan, members of the Working Group were "rewarded" with positions on powerful committees; Wasserman Schultz was appointed to the

Ways and Means committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

in the

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

. The last update on the group's website is dated January 28, 2008, and the group is presumably defunct. During the

113th Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

in 2015, the Future Forum caucus was established, a spiritual successor to the 30 something working group. It similarly features young, Democrat house members, and attempts to reach out and elevate issues pertaining to

Millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ...

and

Generation Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...

voters.

References

External links

Official Website
Thirty-Something Democratic Party (United States) organizations Caucuses of the United States Congress {{US-politics-stub