The House Democratic “Squad," which rocketed to prominence five years ago by taking on then-President Donald Trump and vocally pushing their party to the left, is starting 2024 on the defensive.

Members of Congress’ young progressive bloc are now grappling with one career-threatening problem or another, including personal controversies, criminal investigations and serious primary challenges. They’ve long faced deep animosity from the right, but this time many of them are facing a new level of political peril.

“Without a doubt, it's a different terrain at least for some of them than the last go-round,” Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) said. The aggressive fundraising activity in recent months by many Squad members, he argued, shows they’re taking their Democratic challengers seriously.

Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Summer Lee (D-Pa.) are all facing competitive primaries — and all except Bowman outraised their challengers last quarter, according to recently released campaign finance data. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who doesn’t even have a declared challenger yet, raised a staggering $3.7 million last quarter, a total that would be formidable in a statewide race.

But the progressives’ cash dash can’t immunize them against the sort of challenges that several of them have faced recently. Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for pulling a Capitol fire alarm and aired "regret" for past conspiracy theory-infused poetry about the 9/11 attacks; Bush is facing a federal investigation for campaign payments for security, including potentially those to her husband; Tlaib was censured for statements about the Israel-Hamas war; and the GOP yanked Omar from a committee over her past comments about Israel.

Broadly speaking, the young progressive lawmakers of color find themselves at a crossroads. They have less influence in the House minority, and they........

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