5
Enough to make leadership answer
Five disciplined members can refuse to let the caucus pretend nothing is wrong. They can force public questions around rules, committees, hearings, and must-pass votes.
Power Math
You do not need a majority to create leverage.
A lone member can be isolated. A bloc can bargain, expose, delay, force votes, shape hearings, and make leadership choose in public. That is the point of running candidates together around a shared Contract.
10
Enough to coordinate demands
Ten members can act as a negotiating unit. They can tie support to public commitments and make the cost of ignoring working people visible.
20
Enough to become a bloc
Twenty members with a shared platform are no longer a collection of personalities. They are a governing faction with a public mandate.
35+
Enough to move the center of gravity
A bloc this size can change what counts as serious inside the House: what gets hearings, what gets scored, what gets negotiated, and what gets exposed.
The leverage comes from using Congress like Congress.
The Contract has to connect outside pressure to inside tools. The members have to coordinate before the vote, not explain themselves after it.
Rules votes and leadership votes
Committee assignments and chair pressure
Hearings, subpoenas, and investigations
Appropriations and must-pass bills
Public candidate commitments
Coordinated outside media and organizing