PhotoBlog - us-senate

Jan

2011

6:19pm, EST

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) join Tea Party supporters in saying the Pledge of Allegiance during the first meeting of the U.S. Senate Tea Party Caucus Jan. 27 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The senators gathered with supporters to discuss spending proposals, options for balancing the budget, bringing an end to the U.S. budget deficit and limiting the size and scope of the federal government.

Senate Tea Partiers aim for interactive 'caucus'

By Rich Shulman

The Senate Tea Party Caucus today was newsworthy for who wasn't there as much as who was. As Carrie Dann reports:

Not every Republican who received Tea Party backing during the election opted to attend the first meeting. Sen. Marco Rubio, who received support from DeMint during the 2010 campaign, is holding out from formally joining the caucus. And new GOP freshmen Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire have also said they're not considering themselves part of the group at this time.