Founded as a national bus tour to rally Tea Party activists, the group's leadership also endorses and promotes conservative candidates running for state and federal offices.

It was founded as a project of the political action committee Our Country Deserves Better PAC by Republican party members Howard Kaloogian and Sal Russo.

Conservative radio host Mark Williams served as the spokesperson for the Tea Party Express until he resigned amid controversy over a racially charged letter posted on his blog and comments made to the media.

In March 2012, the Tea Party Express and Americans for Prosperity organized a rally at the Capitol during the Supreme Court's oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

[11] The Tea Party Express began developing a reputation for aggressive action in January 2010, spending nearly $350,000 to back Republican Scott Brown's bid for Senate, helping him win an upset victory in Massachusetts.

Scott Brown garnered support from the tea party by making defeat of President Obama's healthcare plan a signature issue.

[16] Nelson decided not to run for re-election, and Bruning lost the GOP primary to State Senator Deb Fischer, who went on to win the general election.

[20] Radio host Mark Williams, the former chairman of the Tea Party Express,[10] was widely denounced in the summer of 2010 for writing a letter in praise of slavery in the voice of "colored people" on his blog.

[3] A December 28, 2009 article in Talking Points Memo detailed that OCDB directed almost three-quarters of all its funding to the Republican-affiliated political consulting firm that created the PAC in the first place.