When they take control of Congress in January, Democrats plan to quickly hold votes to reverse GOP healthcare cuts, end President Trump’s war in Iran and repeal his tariffs.
That’s the starting point of their legislative agenda. The rest is still in development and could lead to tension among left and centrist factions that have different viewpoints on issues such as universal health care.
“Having those squabbles out in the open, transparently, is a strength of a party,” said Rep. Greg Stanton, Arizona Democrat and a leader in the centrist faction. “We live in a democracy. We’re not all going to agree on everything.”
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Rep. Greg Casar, Texas Democrat and chair of the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus, said voters want Congress to do more than just tinker around the edges of the status quo.
“Our focus has to be on rooting out corruption, delivering on higher wages and lower prices for people, and not accepting any complacency or any excuses after the voters have demanded change,” he said.
While not all of the midterm races have been called, Democrats have not lost a single incumbent and are on track to flip at least 40 Republican-held seats in the House and seven in the Senate.
The incoming Democrats include a mix of self-identified democratic socialists, progressives and centrists who campaigned on similar themes but different policy specifics.
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said candidates, “whether they were progressive or more moderate,” tailored their campaigns to constituencies of their differing states but the underlying message was the same: “reduce costs, end the corruption.”
“And we will be united as a caucus focusing on those issues,” he said.
On the corruption front, Democrats appear to be unified in pursuing a ban on stock trading for members of the legislative and executive branches and legislation to stop price gouging.
Other ideas, such as banning corporate PAC funding in campaigns, do not have universal backing.
House Democratic leaders dodged questions at a press conference on Wednesday about whether their new majority would advance far-left ideas, such as Medicare for All and moratoriums on data centers.
Instead, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and his leadership team identified four things their sizable majority will be ready to vote on soon after the next Congress convenes in January.
Those are measures to reverse Medicaid cuts from Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, renew more expansive Obamacare subsidies that expired last year, end the Iran war and stop Mr. Trump’s tariffs.
The agenda beyond that will be pieced together from recommendations made by Democrats’ five affordability working groups, which were tasked with identifying policies to lower the costs of healthcare, gas and groceries, goods and utilities, and caregiving.
Mr. Jeffries, who is poised to become the first Black House speaker, said Democrats will have a “family conversation” beginning next week about what among their menu of policy options they can pass.
“We know we have to undertake with the seriousness of purpose, a relentless effort to make life more affordable,” he said.
Mr. Schumer, who also set up affordability working groups in his caucus months before the election, said he would have more to say in the coming days about how a Democratic majority “plans to deliver for the American people.”
While all Democrats campaigned on lowering the costs of housing, healthcare and more, the policy fights will be over how much of a role the government should play in subsidizing or replacing the private marketplace.
“We need Medicare for All because we’re already paying twice as much as other countries across the world, and yet we have worse healthcare outcomes,” said Rep.-elect Randy Villegas, California Democrat who ousted GOP Rep. David G. Valadao.
Michigan Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, said the party’s broader healthcare plan still needs some “maturing” but it does not need to be a tug of war.
“The country is ready for big change,” she said. “Now, some people’s approach to that is Medicare for All. Others are talking about Medicare for All who want it. There’s all kinds of ways to solve the solution.”
Rep.-elect Cait Conley, New York Democrat who defeated GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, said voters rejected Republicans’ hyperpartisanship and Democrats must be careful not to let intraparty or cross-party divisions prevent them from delivering results.
“If we don’t show that that is more important than anything else … then I think the voters are going to show us in 2028 that they’re not going to accept that,” she said.
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