A Caucus of Military Veterans Seeks to Bridge the Political Divide in a Polarized Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — The players in this year’s Army-Navy football game kept up a long tradition, with each side honoring the other’s school song when the contest ended. It was an acknowledgment that the future could bring moments when the opponents that day are teammates on deadlier fields.

That ethos also guides a group in the U.S. House that calls itself the For Country Caucus. Its members are veterans with wide military experience who have banded together across party and ideological lines. At a time when bipartisan working relationships in Congress seem rare, with little hope for change in the coming session, the caucus shows there are still spaces where people with different views come together.

“We’re trying to lead by example, both within Congress to show our colleagues that this is possible, but also to America more broadly,” said Colorado Democrat Jason Crow, who is one of the outgoing co-chairs of the caucus.

“People only get deluged with the crazy aspects of Congress and the things that don’t work and the people yelling and screaming,” Crow said. “We just don’t get as much attention when we’re actually working together.”

The caucus began in 2019 to bridge the divides that plague Washington and slow its effectiveness, said Steve Womack, a Republican member of the caucus from Arkansas and a retired colonel in the Army National Guard.

Bringing together people who see themselves as sharing a commitment to putting country and mission first seemed like a starting point “to maybe advance some agendas that would be good for the country,” Womack said. Deadlines, comfort with high-pressure situations and a focus on common goals create “a kind of warrior ethos,” he said.

Since then, the group has been integral in getting more than 100 bills passed into law. The legislation includes such areas as national security, strengthening the military, veterans’ issues, national service and supporting military families, especially those that have lost loved ones.

The caucus was instrumental in getting an increase — the first in two decades — in payments designed to help military families bear the added financial costs of deployments. The caucus also pushed a provision to allow federal agencies to appoint military spouses to remote work positions, an action that could allow them to keep their jobs despite multiple moves.

Other legislation signed recently included an act to help continue efforts to evacuate Afghans who served alongside U.S. military members, diplomats and aid workers in Afghanistan.

One of the group’s first successes was the effort to establish the Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall. Its design is underway.

“We are a small but mighty caucus that punches way above its weight,” Crow said.

Members of it sit on a number of committees together and meet regularly, including breakfast briefings twice a month. Recently, those briefings have included the heads of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Other guests have spoken about national service, such as the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and Voices for National Service.

“We believe really strongly that one of the ways to bring Americans together is to get Americans to work together again,” Crow said.

That doesn’t have to be in the military, he said. People also can find common ground by serving their communities.

Their staff members also meet, and the representatives have some functions off Capitol Hill, including washing the black granite walls at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Two members of the outgoing group are retiring, while the 28 others were reelected. The caucus expects to pick up at least five new members in the next Congress, meaning nearly 8% of the House will be part of the caucus.

Crow, a former Army Ranger who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his co-chair, Texas Republican Tony Gonzales, a retired Navy chief petty officer, will hand over the leadership to Texas Republican Jake Ellzey, a former F/A-18 pilot, and Air Force Academy alumnus Don Davis, a North Carolina Democrat.

Edward Crawford, a co-founder of War Veterans Fund, which recruits Republican war veterans to run for Congress, has had several candidates join the caucus after winning their races.

“In a polarized world and a very polarized country, we veterans have to work with everybody,” he said. “You go into combat, Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, it doesn’t matter. You’re getting shot at. You’re working together. You’re covering each other. Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t matter.”

A Navy veteran himself, Crawford said that while his organization centers on Republican prospects, he refers Democrats to his counterpart at a group called With Honor Action, because that nonpartisan organization promotes veterans from both parties for elective office.

“We want them to be successful, too,” he said. “We want both sides of the aisle to get more veterans.”

Several of the members already had direct military connections.

Reps. Pat Ryan, a New York Democrat, and John James, a Republican from Michigan, were West Point classmates who at one time lived on the same hall. Ryan is the first West Point graduate to represent the district where the academy is located.

Ellzey flew in a squadron that provided air support in Afghanistan for Mike Waltz, a Florida Republican and caucus member, during one of Waltz’s military deployments. A former Green Beret, Waltz has been tapped to become President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

Crow and Womack, who were interviewed together, said they have been monitoring the debate over Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department, as well as issues related to the nomination such as veterans’ benefits and women in combat.

Womack said the nomination is the Senate’s responsibility, but if issues that are counter to the ideals of the caucus are floated, “the whole For Country Caucus will be ready to spring into action. I think to the person, we all kind of know where each other is on those kinds of subjects.”

But, he added, “I think it’s a little bit premature right now to get too caught up in the conjecture of what may or may not happen in the new Congress.”

Crow said questions about women in combat are non-issues.

“We don’t have to take a position because it’s just the fact that women serve in combat,” he said. “There are people in the caucus that have had that experience. So for us, this is not even a question.”

He said the caucus was made up of men and women of different backgrounds, nationalities, races and political positions. The outgoing co-vice chairs are New Jersey Democrat Mike Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican and Army and Army Reserves veteran whose career includes stints as a nurse and physician.

Pushing specific ideologies is not part of its purpose, Crow said. Finding common ground, even in disagreements, is.

“We’re not going to take an all-or-nothing mentality because we know that when people take an all-or-nothing mentality, Americans end up with nothing,” he said. “That’s just not acceptable to us.”