2024 message

House Democrat starts ‘abundance movement’-inspired caucus

It comes amid a broader conversation in the party about its post-2024 message and the failures of governance in blue states and cities.

By Nicholas Wu and Holly Otterbein

House Democrats are getting Ezra Klein-pilled.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.) is launching a new roughly 30-member bloc that’s claiming inspiration from the “abundance movement” championed by the liberal commentator Klein.

“This is a moment that has been building for a while,” said Harder. “I think there’s been a lot of simmering interest in permitting reform and making sure that things are built faster, better, cheaper. But now, I think over the past year or so, it’s really reached a boiling point on both sides.”

It’s the latest sign that some Democrats see the abundance movement’s ideas — something that sprung up around Klein’s book “Abundance” co-authored with Atlantic writer Derek Thompson — as a solution to the party’s woes.

The subject is not without its critics. Some progressives have pushed back on the proposals, which they argue fail to focus on what they see as larger problems like the concentration of power.

But in spite of those detractors, Harder said his new caucus has a broad swath of support.

“I think this may be one of the only active bipartisan caucuses doing work that has folks across the ideological rainbow,” Harder said.

The bloc’s emergence comes amid a broader conversation among Democrats about their post-2024 message and potential failure of governance in blue cities and states. Harder said he’d read the book and had been in touch with Klein, who also spoke at the Senate Democrats’ private gathering this week.

In a short interview, Klein said it was “good” that the caucus was forming but that he didn’t know much about it.

Harder said the “Build America Caucus” is set to focus on cutting red tape around energy permitting and housing, and aimed to make recommendations on embedding provisions in must-pass legislation this Congress like the annual defense authorization bill or federal surface transportation legislation.

But with congressional Republicans currently pursuing a party-line policy megabill, it’s not clear how much of an appetite for bipartisan dealmaking exists in Washington at the moment.

Harder, who represents a district around Stockton, California, cited his frustrations with the cost overruns and delays associated with marquee Democratic projects, including his state’s high-speed rail project and the rollout of funding from the bipartisan infrastructure and climate law signed by former President Joe Biden.

“I think voters want to see action, and I think we need a government that actually works and actually delivers the services that people are voting for,” Harder said.