Democrats Are About To Run The Show On Capitol Hill. What Will They Do With Their Power?

Democrats will control Congress next year. And once they’re done celebrating their decisive midterm victory, they’ll have to confront their next challenge: leveraging their power to legislate with President Donald Trump still in the White House the next two years.

While much of Democrats’ time will be spent wielding their new subpoena power to haul in Trump’s top officials and allies, they have no shortage of ideas for policies they also want to pursue — on everything from technology and artificial intelligence to health care and taxes.

Many of the proposals Democrats put forward will inevitably be messaging bills that try to shape public opinion ahead of the presidential contest in 2028 — and lay the groundwork for a legislative agenda they can jump on if they win a governing trifecta that year.

“We'll aggressively prepare to get off to a fast start on January 3rd in the new Congress,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on track to become speaker, said in an October press call.

The party will honor its commitments, he continued, to “relentlessly focus on the affordability crisis” and “drive down the high cost of living, because life is way too expensive in the United States of America.”

Democrats will ultimately be under enormous pressure to show they can actually get things done, including within their own caucus, where progressive members will be fighting for influence against moderates. Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — set to be the Senate majority leader in the new Congress — will have to carefully navigate those divisions to secure unity, even on party-line bills.

Progressives are going to push to advance policies like a wealth tax, “Medicare for All” and strict regulation of AI that could involve a ban on developing “superintelligence.”

“Next year, Democrats must pass bills powerful enough to actually tackle the cost of living crisis and root out rampant corruption. We cannot be the party of nervous lawyers who just tinker around the edges,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar of Texas said in a statement in the days leading up to the midterms.

Casar was responding directly to the likely incoming No. 2 Senate Democrat, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who suggested on CNN that Democrats should wait until 2028 to “make more bold policy changes.”

Moderates may be looking to rework bipartisan bills that have languished during the Republican governing trifecta while pushing back against proposals they view as too extreme.

The debate over regulating AI will be one where warring Democratic factions could come to blows over how to rein in a potentially dangerous technology without stifling innovation and ceding ground to China. Progressives, led by Casar and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, are pushing to pause advanced AI development and ban superintelligence, which more centrist lawmakers say is untenable.

“The [AI] discussion so far is … pretty populist, pretty devoid of fact, and I think we have to be more realistic about it,” Rep. Scott Peters of California, a moderate Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a recent interview.

The easiest way for Democrats to achieve legislative victories will be by jamming Republicans on must-pass bills, such as for government funding, a debt ceiling increase and the annual defense policy measure. Otherwise, Democrats could find bipartisan potential around issues like cryptocurrency if lawmakers are unable to finalize an industry overhaul during the post-midterm “lame-duck” session. The same goes for passing a farm bill and legislation to reauthorize surface transportation programs.

Democrats could also try to entice GOP privacy hawks, like Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, with legislation to rein in the proliferation of Flock cameras, which automatically capture moving vehicles and can share the data with law enforcement.

Some Democrats will also push to restore some clean energy subsidies after Republicans slashed several renewable tax credit programs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. Both Jeffries and Schumer have said they would introduce legislation to restore the phased-out wind and solar credits, but they could run into opposition from some industry players who want to disprove arguments from Republicans that renewables can’t compete without help.

Health care is another area where Democrats could find themselves divided. The party will need to decide whether to preserve the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s formula of expanding the health insurance safety net bit by bit — or propose blowing up the system through “Medicare For All.”

Progressive Reps. Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Linda Sánchez of California — senior members of Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means, respectively — are expected to be among those pushing the latter option following an election cycle centered on Americans struggling to pay bills. If successful, the effort would plant a flag going into 2028 and signal that Democrats no longer fear backlash from voters who prefer their private plans.

Democrats could come together in seeking to undo the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid that Republicans enacted in last year’s megalaw, restore the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that Republicans allowed to expire at the end of 2025 and expand the Medicare drug price negotiation program they created during their last governing trifecta in in the 2022.

“We can have reasonable prices for these drugs, and guess what? These pharmaceutical companies, they'll be just fine,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who was influential during the drug price negotiations at that time, said in an interview in September.

In any event, Democrats will need to move quickly to implement an affordability agenda in line with their campaign promises to lower the cost of living. Proposals include legislation to prohibit grocery store price gouging, expand the child tax credit and reverse Republican cuts to federal nutrition programs.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is expected to become the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, has also consistently pushed follow-up legislation to the bipartisan housing package that became law in July. She could team up on that effort with Rep. Maxine Waters of California — though her House Financial Services gavel is up in the air as the 88-year-old fends off possible challenges from Illinois Democratic Reps. Sean Casten, 54, and Bill Foster, 71.

More broadly, though, some Democrats have been eager to downplay divisions in their party.

“At the end of the day, the things we don’t agree with, we'll figure out,” said one House Democratic aide granted anonymity to speak candidly. “I don’t think folks will want to come out of the gate with a circular firing squad.”

Simon J. Levien, Katherine Hapgood, Brian Faler, Gabby Miller, Owen Dahlkamp, Jasper Goodman, Ari Hawkins, Nico Portuondo, Connor O’Brien, Mackenzie Wilkes, Robert King, Alice Miranda Ollstein, and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.