Motion to Affirm Triangle DSA Signature of For DSA Unity and Against Splits
Whereas
The Steering Committee, as the democratically-elected executive body and representatives of Triangle DSA, is its highest body between General Meetings of the chapter.
The Bylaws grant the Steering Committee broad power to act and speak on behalf of the Chapter between General Meetings, while commitment of chapter resources for longer than 30 days and electoral endorsements requires deliberation at a General Meeting.
This division of the labor allows the chapter to react quickly to evolving circumstances and urgent matters, while ensuring that the General Membership of the chapter retains control of overall political direction and long-term commitment of chapter resources.
Whereas
Debate is ongoing within DSA nationally about the means by which a hypothetical 2028 presidential endorsement would be made. At the 2025 national convention, members voted to back Resolution 33: Unite Labor & the Left to Run a Socialist For President and Build the Party. The resolution presupposes a Left-Labor coalition with DSA’s participation that has not as of yet taken shape, but includes this clause:
Resolved, if there isn’t sufficient interest in forming a broad left-labor coalition, DSA should still attempt to endorse a viable and politically aligned presidential candidate. Likewise, if there is no sufficient presidential candidate, DSA should still attempt to cohere a larger left-labor coalition.
As a result of R.33, the National Political Committee (NPC), the highest body of National DSA between the biannual Conventions, established a Presidential Exploratory Committee (PEC, not to be confused with Triangle DSA’s Political Education Committee), consisting of members of the NPC and DSA’s National Electoral Committee (NEC).
The PEC agendized a proposal to be deliberated at the July 12 NPC meeting on how to implement the mandate to attempt to endorse a viable and politically aligned presidential candidate. In broad strokes, the base resolution granted the final decision as to whether DSA endorses a candidate to an NPC vote, informed by a non-binding, all-member poll as well as a robust chapter input process.
While the NPC ultimately did not reach a final decision, they did eliminate the all-member straw poll in favor of a combination of deliberation in chapters and a poll of at-large members, and sent the proposal back to the PEC for further refinement.
Whereas
After this NPC meeting, two members of NYC-DSA’s elected leadership dramatically escalated the organizational tensions around this issue. The escalation attracted substantial attention outside of DSA, and was even covered in national media, such as the New York Times and Fox News. The events are detailed in the following letter, For DSA Unity and Against Splits, quoted in full.
For DSA Unity and Against Splits
DSA is the largest socialist organization in U.S. history, with 120,000 dedicated comrades organizing in over a hundred chapters across the country. We are committed to the health and growth of all of DSA as a national organization, because socialism cannot be won in one city alone. We know that DSA, our political home, is our membership. As comrades, we disagree with each other often but know that we are only as strong as our solidarity. That is what it means to be in an organization that values democratic decisions and trusts the leaders we elect.
That’s why we were so alarmed by the escalation of tensions between the leadership of the national organization (NPC) and the leadership of NYC-DSA this past weekend. The cochair of NYC-DSA posted that “the NPC [is] taking away our members’ right to vote while NYC members send them $2M per year”. This message was reinforced when the Treasurer of NYC-DSA later emailed the NPC that: “You [the national organization] need us more than we need you” followed by a spreadsheet gaming out the math of how a split would work out financially for the NYC chapter. While the NPC has since received an apology for the email, this is just one part of a longstanding pattern of behavior.
Good democratic functioning requires that we are free to share political positions and make decisions without threats from our comrades. It is unacceptable to threaten to split the organization because a vote didn’t go your way: to do so is to hold DSA hostage in service of your preferred outcome, a fundamental subversion of healthy democratic process.
We are alarmed by these threats and ask all DSA members to join us in calling for cross-chapter and cross-caucus solidarity, celebrating our recent successes that were only won through the power of a national organization, and rejecting any effort there may be to attempt a split. For too long left-wing organizations have been marginal and have devolved into splits and internal fighting.
DSA is too important. We can’t and we won’t repeat that history. We reject the idea that we would let political disagreement tear us and our organization apart and commit to standing together for the sake of our project, in spite of disagreements. Our mission – to end capitalism and transform society for the good of all people – is greater than the narrow outcome of any one vote. We need each other to fight for a better world.
We hope to work towards reconciliation and unity that will make our movement stronger. For DSA to continue to grow as a powerful force in the world it will require a renewed dedication to the multi-tendency nature of our organization on the part of all members whether caucused or not.
Whereas
This letter does not take a position, explicitly or implicitly, on the political issue of how DSA ought to or ought not to make a presidential endorsement in 2028, nor does it take a position on any potential candidate. Additionally, while the NYC co-chair and NYC treasurer implicated in this escalation are both members of a DSA caucus, other members of their caucus co-signed this letter. The letter, rather than settling scores, reiterates crucial norms: DSA’s multi-tendency nature is a strength, and threatening to split the organization is not an acceptable tactic in internal debates.
Whereas
The Steering Committee, exercising its authority as the democratically-elected representatives of Triangle DSA, considering the rapidly evolving situation and urgency created by the national attention, signed onto the letter collectively on behalf of the chapter at its meeting on July 14. In doing so, it aimed to publicly signal institutional support for those norms embodied within the letter and aimed to set a positive example for other chapters in the organization.
Whereas
While the Steering Committee acted with urgency, and believes it made the correct decision, it wishes to allow the membership of the chapter the final say over whether or not it agrees with a chapter co-signature of the letter. Should the membership of Triangle DSA reject this signature, the Steering Committee will act promptly to withdraw it.
Resolved
Triangle DSA affirms its co-signature of For DSA Unity and Against Splits.