About.
Mission.
Our mission is to grow a grassroots conservative network, uniting people of widely varying backgrounds in peaceable defense of our country, our Constitution, and our common values rooted in liberty and fundamental, God-given rights.
Leadership.
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Jim Pfaff brings more than three decades of frontline conservative political experience to his role as TCC President.
He served as Chief of Staff Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), one of the Founders of the House Freedom Caucus — and as Chief of Staff for the Colorado House Republican Caucus.
Jim also founded and led Americans for Prosperity of Colorado, served as President of the Colorado Family Institute, and represented Dr. James Dobson as a National Representative for Family Policy Councils at Focus on the Family.
A nationally recognized public policy leader and grassroots strategist, he has directed major congressional, state legislative, and statewide ballot campaigns.
Jim is a frequent guest on Podcast and TV shows like Timcast, Newsmax, and The WOR Saturday Morning Show, and hosts The Conservative Caucus Podcast.
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Peter J. Thomas is a veteran conservative political strategist and seasoned policy expert dedicated to upholding the principles of the Constitution and democracy. As a founder and the chairman of The Conservative Caucus, he has played a pivotal role in promoting and shaping the conservative agenda across the nation for over half a century.
Peter's distinguished career includes key presidential appointments under Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. Under President Reagan, he served as the New England Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration. During Bush Sr.'s administration, he was the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Small Business. Under Bush Jr., he rose to the position of Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration in the Department of Agriculture. Additionally, Peter gained invaluable insight into Congress as Chief of Staff to Rep. Peter Torkildsen (R-MA).
Peter's dedication to conservative values is further demonstrated by his tenure as the National Field Director of TCC in its early years, when he oversaw chapters in most congressional districts. His diverse experience also includes founding and presiding over the Massachusetts Foundation for Economic Research, serving as director of communications for Papa Gino's restaurants, and earning accolades as a leading sales representative for State Mutual of America.
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Barry M. Goldwater, Jr. is Honorary Chairman of The Conservative Caucus. He served 14 years as a member of the U.S. Congress, representing a district in California, and is the son of the late Senator Barry Goldwater Sr., who was the first presidential candidate of the modern conservative movement.
Goldwater Jr. followed in his father's footsteps as a conservative leader. In Congress, he co-authored the Privacy Act of 1974, one of the most important pieces of legislation protecting Americans' privacy rights. He blocked the federal government from creating movies in-house, which would have taken jobs from the U.S. motion picture industry. On the Energy Research and Development Committee, he promoted energy independence in the wake of the OPEC embargo. He also served on the Space and Aviation Committee, which authorized and oversaw the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.
An expert on aviation and transportation technology, he is a pilot with over 3,000 hours of flight time. He campaigned for Ronald Reagan, a family friend whose emergence as a political figure came during the Goldwater for President campaign, and for other conservative candidates such as Ron Paul. He has won the Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, an award from the President's Commission on Employment of the Handicapped, and the Conscience of the Congress Award of the American Conservative Union (the group behind CPAC).
Goldwater is a board member of the Goldwater Institute, a leading conservative think tank, which has an arm that sues government entities when they violate the Constitution and statutory law. He is also a member of the board of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, one of the most prestigious national undergraduate scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics; it is awarded to some 400 students per year.
Vision & What is The Conservative Caucus
To help give conservatives a voice in Washington, D.C., in state capitals, and in counties and cities across America, TCC works to create local grassroots volunteer organizations in congressional districts across the country and wherever conservatives can be brought together, to learn about important issues, protest bad policies and promote good ones, and ensure that the vote of every person who shares our values is cast and counted.
Founded in 1974, The Conservative Caucus is the face of America's conservative movement. We are the mainstream majority. Our adversaries are the power-mad, corrupt, anti-American socialists, whose only mission is to erode our freedoms with their far-Left, and increasing anti-Constitutional and Marxist extreme agenda. We will not allow that to happen! Our dedicated, devoted leadership and a steadfast board of directors and team are committed to making The Conservative Caucus a true conservative voice in the country. We take action on the issues that matter most. Today, The Conservative Caucus is needed more than ever.
The key to success is to let people know what is happening in government and to tell them how they can have an impact on the decisions to be made. TCC uses many methods to make conservative opinions felt in Congress and the White House. We encourage members and all citizens to call, visit, or write their elected representatives, and to alert other Americans by calling talk shows and writing letters to the editor. Often petitions are collected and delivered to key decision-makers. Testimony before Congressional committees, meetings with members of Congress and their staff, video commentaries and programs, and Member's Message newsletters all help communicate to the public and make sure elected officials hear what conservatives have to say.
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We believe in American exceptionalism — that the U.S. remains a beacon of freedom and opportunity, drawing the world's brightest and hardest-working people.
What We Stand For.
Our Core Principles:
We are committed to the values that make America exceptional: freedom, opportunity, and the rule of law.
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We champion parents' rights, educational choice, and freedom from political indoctrination in schools.
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We support equality for all, rejecting divisive identity politics and promoting fairness and respect for every individual.
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We support a powerful military for defense — not endless foreign entanglements — pursuing peace through strength.
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We put American citizens first, advocating for policies that support working families and small businesses over political elites and entrenched interests.
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Families are the foundation of society. We promote localism — empowering individuals, communities, and states over federal bureaucracy.
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We fight against censorship, ideological extremism, and the erosion of free thought.
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We believe in strong borders and a legal, orderly immigration process that upholds national security and American prosperity.
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We fiercely protect core freedoms: speech, religion, self-defense, privacy, and freedom from political persecution.
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We stand for honest elections, secured by the secret ballot, and oppose efforts that undermine voting integrity.
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We defend the right to life, promote free enterprise, oppose crony capitalism, and advocate for energy independence and fiscal responsibility.
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We demand that courts uphold the Constitution and enforce laws as written, not based on political agendas.
History.
The Conservative Caucus (TCC) was founded in 1974 by New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson, the only sitting governor to back Ronald Reagan for president in 1976, and Howard Phillips, a co-founder of Young Americans for Freedom and a former Harvard student body president who had served as President Nixon's acting director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (Senate Democrats blocked his permanent confirmation).
Phillips organized meetings in congressional districts nationwide, and within two years TCC had coordinators or contacts in all 50 states and D.C. Regional conferences in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and a national gathering in Atlanta, built out the organization's grassroots network. In 1976, TCC established a companion 501(c)(3), The Conservative Caucus Research, Analysis, and Education Foundation, which published a Senate Report tracking senators' voting records and targeted Congressional Reports.
In 1977, TCC formed a “Citizen's Cabinet” of figures such as Henry Hazlitt, Steve Symms, and Ron Paul to counter the Carter administration. The group helped defeat postcard voter registration, taxpayer financing of campaigns, Ted Sorensen's nomination to lead the CIA, and a Ted Kennedy healthcare proposal, and fought a proposed amendment granting the District of Columbia congressional representation. TCC also mobilized nationwide against the Carter-Brezhnev SALT II Treaty, sent Phillips on a fact-finding trip to Taiwan, and produced a widely broadcast documentary on Soviet expansionism.
TCC's grassroots campaign against the Panama Canal Treaty is credited with helping sustain Reagan's path to the 1980 presidency; the subsequent defeat of treaty supporters gave Republicans the Senate for the first time in 26 years, including New Hampshire's Gordon Humphrey, TCC's state coordinator, who unseated a three-term incumbent.
TCC backed the Kemp-Roth tax cuts that fueled 1980s growth, and was an early, lonely opponent of pro-abortion Sandra Day O'Connor's Supreme Court nomination. Phillips helped found Concerned Women for America and the Council for National Policy. TCC also supported the Reagan Doctrine of backing anti-Soviet insurgents, engaging with activists in southern Africa and Central America, and helped organize public support for missile defense (the Strategic Defense Initiative). After the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, killing Congressman Larry McDonald among others, TCC held a large memorial in Washington.
At the 1984 GOP convention, TCC pushed a flat tax; a related reform effort helped cap federal income tax rates at 28 percent.
The group scrutinized the Legal Services Corporation, then chaired by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and campaigned against the U.N. Genocide Treaty while supporting the MX Missile and aid to anti-communist fighters.
It also highlighted alleged ties between Cuba, Chevron, and a State Department official, backed Reagan's end of a Soviet-favoring arms agreement, contributed to a presidential veto message on South Africa sanctions, and opposed the INF Treaty over anticipated Soviet noncompliance — concerns that were later borne out.
TCC also supported Jesse Helms's rise on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and joined Jack Kemp on a congressional trip to Central America.
The group backed the Supreme Court confirmations of William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas, as well as Robert Bork's unsuccessful nomination, and was alone among conservative groups in opposing David Souter – we were proven correct when Souter often joined the Court's left-wing bloc. TCC fought the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, opposed D.C. statehood, blocked a Legal Services Corporation nominee, won a budget cut for that agency, and pressured federal investigation of grants to left-leaning groups. As the Cold War wound down, Phillips led a “Baltic Liberation Tour” through Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, meeting Czech opposition leader Vaclav Klaus.
During the Clinton years, TCC pushed for an impeachment inquiry, opposed technology transfers to China, helped stop automatic congressional pay raises, and helped defeat Hillary Clinton's health care scheme known as “HillaryCare,” contributing to the Republican House takeover after four decades of Democratic control. TCC also helped block Anthony Lake's CIA nomination, backed U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, protested the Panama Canal handover, and supported repealing a tax increase affecting seniors.
In the 2000s, Phillips led a delegation through Asia meeting future Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, and TCC backed the Bush administration's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court treaty. The group opposed a “Continuity of Government” proposal for appointing rather than electing members of Congress, fought a Social Security agreement with Mexico, and worked against illegal-immigrant amnesty through its Secure Borders Coalition. TCC later formed a coalition against a proposed North American Union, opposed the Law of the Sea Treaty and revival of the Fairness Doctrine, supported repealing the estate tax, and opposed Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
TCC backed House repeal of the Affordable Care Act (which stalled in the Senate) and a House bill defunding it along with Planned Parenthood and NPR.
TCC's Stand With Trump project played a key role in defending President Trump from impeachment and the Deep State coup during his first term. During the Biden years, TCC opposed Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court, advocated for parental rights and against Critical Race Theory, continued to campaign for congressional term limits, pushed for election-integrity measures, and helped Republicans take back the House in 2022.
And we never abandoned President Trump during this time. TCC ran a “Thank You Trump” petition drive and then helped him take back the White House in 2024. We continue to Stand with Trump during his second term by pushing Congress to support his America First agenda. Only a conservative Republican Congress will support Trump's agenda – hence the need for our special 2026 project to help the GOP maintain control of the House and Senate.