Making laws
caucus
An organized group of members, most importantly each party's full membership in a chamber, which elects its leaders and sets strategy.
In full
The word covers both each party's chamber-wide organization (the House Democratic Caucus, the Senate Republican Conference) and the hundreds of voluntary member groups organized around interests or regions. Party caucuses matter structurally: they choose the leaders, assign committee seats, and decide what the party will bring to the floor.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.