List of socialist members of the United States Congress

From the 1890s to the 1910s, most socialists who won election to public office ran on the Populist or Socialist Party of America (SPA) ballot lines. While the SPA won a few federal elections, its electoral power was much greater in local and state elections, and briefly held over 1,000 local offices. During the First Red Scare, the House of Representatives twice refused to seat socialist Victor Berger, who would be convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and again won his seat. Starting in the 1980s, a small number of social-democratic and socialist Democrats affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). After the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign and explosion of DSA membership, DSA rapidly gained half a dozen seats in the House. In 2021, there were more socialists in Congress than any point in US history, most of whom are members of DSA. After Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman lost re-election and Greg Casar and Summer Lee lost DSA endorsement, that number shrank again. == Members elected as socialists ==

The table below lists members of the US Congress who were open socialists or open members of a socialist organization during their time in office. : == Members who were former or future socialists ==

The table below lists members of the US Congress who were, at some point in their life, socialists or members of a socialist organization, but not while they held Congressional office. : == Notable progressive but not socialist members ==

The list below includes members who have sometimes been described as socialist, but are / were not ideological socialists or sincere members of a socialist organization: • Maxwell Frost (2023–, ) is a progressive and the first Generation Z member of Congress. Frost explicitly does not identify as socialist, saying "my family fled that". • Shri Thanedar (2021–, ) is a Democrat and expelled DSA member. Thanedar is not considered a socialist or reflective of the values of the organization. • Ilhan Omar (2019–, ) is a member of "The Squad". In 2019, Donald Trump insulted Omar as an "America-hating socialist" while a crowd chanted "send her back". Omar has never identified as socialist or endorsed socialism. Omar was not endorsed by DSA and is not a DSA member, though DSA called her a "friend of DSA". In 2020, Jacobin described her as "one of the leading lights of the democratic socialist movement". In 2019, an Omar staffer claimed: "[S]he is proud to call herself a democratic socialist". • Ayanna Pressley (2019–, ) is a member of "The Squad". Pressley explicitly does not identify as socialist. • Karen Bass (2011–2022, CA-33, CA-37) was a member of the pro-Cuban Revolution Venceremos Brigade. • Raúl Grijalva (2003–2025, AZ-7) was a member of the left-wing Raza Unida Party in his youth. • George Crockett Jr. (1980–1991, ) was a National Lawyers Guild member who attended the DSA founding conference, but never joined the group itself. • Allard K. Lowenstein (1969–1971, NY-5) was aligned with many New Left causes and was supported in his campaigns by DSA members such as Ron Dellums but never identified as a socialist himself. • Will Rogers Jr. (1943–1944, ) was one of the few current, former, or future members of Congress to openly support the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. • Jerry J. O'Connell (1937–1939, ) was one of the few current, former, or future members of Congress to openly support the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. Although he was a member of several organizations supported by the CPUSA (such as the Progressive Party, National Lawyers Guild, and National Committee to Defeat the Mundt Bill), he was never proven to be a member of the party or an ideological communist. Furthermore, he voted against the CPUSA line on more than one occasion, such as approving an arms embargo on the Spanish Republic early in his tenure. • Samuel Dickstein (1923–1945, , ) was found to have been a paid agent of the NKVD, although it has been generally concluded that his interests were unrelated to socialism. • Smith W. Brookhart (1922–1926, 1927–1933, IA-Sen) was one of the few current, former, or future members of Congress to openly support the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. • Robert M. La Follette (1885–1891, ; 1906–1925, WI-Sen) aligned himself with Socialist groups but never identified as a Socialist himself. == See also ==