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Which current U.S. Representatives are members of the Democratic Socialists of America?
Executive Summary
The available analyses show disagreement about which current U.S. Representatives are formal members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Older and journalistic summaries commonly list Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman as confirmed DSA members, while at least one source (a February 2023 article) adds Greg Casar to that list, producing a total of five DSA‑affiliated House members [1] [2] [3]. Discrepancies arise from differing publication dates, varying definitions of “membership” versus “association or endorsement,” and public statements from the DSA itself about endorsements and membership status [4] [1].
1. Who claims which Representatives belong to DSA — and why that matters
Analyses diverge on the roster of DSA members in Congress because authors rely on distinct criteria: public membership declarations, organizational endorsements, or journalistic reporting of affiliation. Several summaries and organizational pages published between 2021 and 2025 identify Ocasio‑Cortez, Tlaib, Bush, and Bowman as sitting House members with DSA membership or strong organizational ties [1] [2]. A February 2023 overview, however, specifies five sitting Representatives — adding Greg Casar (Texas) to the four above — and reports those five voted together on a House resolution discussed in that article [3]. The distinction between formal DSA membership and public endorsement or alignment with socialist policy is crucial, because some sources conflate endorsement or ideological sympathy with formal organizational membership [1] [4].
2. Timeline and source differences that produce contradictory lists
The discrepancies reflect timing and source type: a 2021 piece noted DSA‑affiliated members during the 117th Congress, while analyses published in 2023 and 2024 update or reinterpret that roster [2] [3]. A DSA internal statement and reporting from mid‑2024 and early 2025 focus on endorsements and internal politics — notably an instance where DSA conditioned or withdrew endorsement for Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez — which complicates public perception of membership versus endorsement [5] [1] [4]. Independent reporting and organizational lists are not uniform in updating membership rolls, and some authors explicitly warn that membership status changes and may not be publicly disclosed by all Representatives, causing real‑time uncertainty [1].
3. Who appears consistently across sources and why that’s the safest list
Across multiple analyses, the four Representatives most consistently identified as DSA members are Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez (NY‑14), Rashida Tlaib (MI‑13), Cori Bush (MO‑1), and Jamaal Bowman (NY‑16); these names recur in organizational lists and independent reporting spanning 2021–2025 [1] [2]. These four have publicly acknowledged ties to the DSA or received DSA endorsements during their campaigns, and they are widely reported as meeting the organization’s membership or affiliation criteria in media accounts. Because these four appear in the majority of the provided analyses and in organizational discussions about DSA’s congressional footprint, citing them represents the most defensible, conservative answer based on the available evidence [1] [2].
4. Why a fifth name appears in some reports — Greg Casar’s inclusion and its caveats
One February 2023 report explicitly lists Greg Casar (Texas) as a sitting House member who is a DSA member, bringing the count to five [3]. That article frames Casar’s inclusion in the context of a specific vote and broader DSA participation in congressional debates. However, later summaries and DSA communications from 2024–2025 do not uniformly repeat Casar’s membership claim, and some organizational commentary focuses on endorsements rather than formal membership rolls [1] [5]. The divergence suggests Casar’s inclusion may stem from temporary public association, local DSA chapter affiliation, or reporter interpretation; therefore Casar’s membership status is less consistently corroborated across the provided sources [3] [1].
5. Bottom line, uncertainties, and what to watch next
The best-supported conclusion is that four current U.S. Representatives — Ocasio‑Cortez, Tlaib, Bush, and Bowman — are DSA members according to multiple sources and organizational discussions, while a fifth (Greg Casar) is listed by at least one report but not consistently confirmed across later analyses [1] [2] [3]. Key uncertainties stem from the difference between formal DSA membership and public endorsements, the DSA’s own shifting endorsement decisions in 2024–2025, and the fact that membership disclosures may not be consistently publicized [4] [5]. For a definitive, up‑to‑date roster, consult the DSA’s official membership disclosures or direct statements from individual Representatives; absent that, the four‑person list is the most reliably documented in the supplied sources [1] [2].