Gang of 14 Gang of 14 The Gang of 14 was a phrase coined to describe the bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully, at the time, negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called "nuclear option" by Senate Republicans over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate Democrats. The term alludes to the phrase "Gang of Four", used in China to refer to four ex-leaders blamed for the abuses during the rule of Mao Zedong. Senate Democrats used the filibuster to prevent the confirmation of conservative appellate court candidates
Gang of Four Gang of Four, including Chen Boda and Mao Yuanxin, were also sentenced. In the struggle between Hua Guofeng's and Deng Xiaoping's followers, a new term emerged, pointing to Hua's four closest collaborators, Wang Dongxing, Wu De, Ji Dengkui and Chen Xilian. In 1980, they were charged with "grave errors" in the struggle against the Gang of Four and demoted from the Political Bureau to mere Central Committee membership. In the Xi Jinping era, some commentators and political observers dubbed the loose political grouping of former security chief Zhou Yongkang, former Central Military Commission vice-chairman Xu Caihou, former Chongqing party chief