House group forms Tea Party Caucus

WASHINGTON — A group of two dozen House Republicans, led by Rep. Michele Bachmann, officially launched the congressional Tea Party Caucus on Wednesday, strongly defending the grass-roots conservative movement as a positive force in American politics.

Many congressional Republicans have long associated themselves with the Tea Party activists who emerged during last year’s stimulus and health-care debates and sharply oppose President Obama’s agenda, but Bachmann’s move to create this caucus formalizes their relationship with the GOP.

Bachmann, R-Minn., and her allies say the caucus will invite activists to Capitol Hill, solicit their ideas and perhaps turn them into policies.