The Squad's battle plan ahead of 2026

• That's mostly due to the primary losses of Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), bringing their number from nine to seven.

🎯 One target: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the outgoing chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, blames super PAC money for Bush's and Bowman's losses.

• "The dark money in primaries stops us from electing true working-class candidates who are going to challenge corporate power," she told Axios at an Axios News Shapers event on Thursday.

Zoom in: The Squad's most prominent member — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — is locked in a heated race for power next week.

• AOC was endorsed Friday for ranking member on House Oversight by her Congressional Progressive Caucus allies. That was quickly followed by an endorsement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
• She's battling against allies of House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who's been making calls on her opponent's Rep. Gerry Connolly's (D-Va.) behalf.

• Connolly was endorsed Friday by the center-left New Democrat Coalition.

Zoom out: The Israel-Hamas war put the pro-Palestinian lawmakers on defense, and in the case of Bowman and Bush, the Gaza war combined with additional scandals proved too much to withstand.

• "Democrats will try to run to the right, will try to run to the center and be Republican light," Jayapal told Axios.
• "Let's be real, most people don't like the light version of anything. They'd rather have the real version of the thing."
• "We need a very clear contrast between Republicans and Democrats."