# Future Forum **Future Forum** is the House caucus for **young Democrats**. Membership is limited to members of the House Democratic Caucus who are **50 years old or younger**. Rep. [[Eric Swalwell]] (D-CA) founded it in **April 2015**. It describes its job as elevating "the perspectives of younger Americans" on major issues and encouraging the next generation to go into public service. It is a partisan caucus inside the [[Democratic Party]]'s House operation. Don't confuse it with the bipartisan [[Future Caucus]], which organizes young lawmakers *across* party lines. ## Leadership and size - **117th Congress (2021–2023):** Chair Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL). Vice chairs Reps. Colin Allred (D-TX) and [[Haley Stevens]] (D-MI). Chair emeritus Rep. [[Stephanie Murphy]] (D-FL). About 40 members. - **119th Congress (2025–2027):** Members elected three co-chairs unanimously in December 2024: - Rep. Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), co-chair for administration and membership. She was returning as a co-chair. - Rep. Gabe Amo (RI-01), co-chair for policy. - Rep. Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), co-chair for communications. Rep. Janelle Bynum (OR-05) was elected **new-member co-chair** at the caucus's first 119th-Congress meeting in January 2025. Democratic Whip [[Katherine Clark]] issued a statement on the co-chairs' election in December 2024. - **Size:** The caucus announced **54** members in December 2024 and reported **53** at its January 2025 first meeting, 14 of them new. Wikipedia currently lists **51**. Counts move as members leave and join, so treat any single figure as a snapshot. ## Agenda The 119th-Congress leadership release names **gun violence, climate change, student loan debt, and health care costs** as priorities. Wikipedia's longer-running list adds college affordability, entrepreneurship, and jobs. The caucus's main tactic is outreach: listening sessions and events with young Americans, which it says have reached **more than 50 cities**. McGarvey's line at the leadership election sums up the brand: "Too often, young people in America are undervalued and overlooked." ## Why it matters for the KB 1. **It is the Democratic Party's internal answer to [[Gerontocracy]].** Future Forum doesn't challenge the House seniority system. It gives younger members a branded platform and a youth-outreach role. That makes it the institutional home young Democrats already have, not an insurgency against the leadership. 2. **Its founder is gone.** [[Eric Swalwell]] resigned from Congress on **April 14, 2026**, the day after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into sexual-harassment allegations reported by CNN. His page covers the details. The caucus continues under the co-chairs listed above. 3. **Partisan vs. bipartisan youth organizing.** Future Forum and [[Future Caucus]] are two opposite answers to the same question about generational representation. Future Forum organizes young members *within* a party to win young voters for that party. Future Caucus organizes them *across* parties to cool the partisan fight. Outside Congress, [[Run for Something]] runs the partisan model at the candidate-pipeline level. ## Related - [[Future Caucus]] — the bipartisan counterpart (originally the Millennial Action Project) - [[Run for Something]] — progressive young-candidate pipeline for state and local office - [[Eric Swalwell]] · [[Haley Stevens]] · [[Stephanie Murphy]] - [[Gerontocracy]] · [[United States House of Representatives]]