Democrats Weigh Reconciliation Bill, Even If It's Doomed

Progressives are spoiling for a party-defining fight next year with President Donald Trump, using the same hardball tactic Republicans used last year to skirt the filibuster and muscle tax cuts through Congress.

As they prepare to take control of the House and Senate next year, some lawmakers on the left are pushing their colleagues to send Trump sweeping legislation chock full of Democratic priorities by way of the budget reconciliation process. They're floating the idea even though they know there's no chance it will become law, but that's not the point. Rather, the purpose is to pick a big, showy fight with the president, and put a spotlight on the Democratic platform ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

“It’s important that we show the American people what we stand for, that we fight for an agenda that the American people want,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who plans to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the new Congress.

Discussions are still very early, as lawmakers focus on tying-up legislative business before the end of the year — but not everyone is enamored with the idea.

“I’m not interested in making political statements,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, who added that Democrats should be looking for ways to make law now. “I want to make a difference — I want to solve problems."

He also said Democrats need to be able to point to concrete achievements, and warned pursuing a reconciliation deal could undercut their midterm wins.

"We had this big victory, and I don’t want to turn around and give all the seats right back because we swing too far the other way," Beyer said.

The reconciliation issue raises a host of other questions about how Democrats plan to approach the next two years. They're under pressure to make good on campaign promises to address voters’ concerns about affordability. But what exactly that will entail, and how to go about it, is to be determined. Included in that are big questions about whether they should try to find areas of compromise with Trump, or if they should look past him and focus on positioning the party for 2028.

“We need to have a meaningful caucus discussion on these things,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a potential 2028 presidential contender who's also been encouraging his colleagues to go big — including with a reconciliation bill.

In a closed-door meeting this week, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York and colleagues discussed their potential agenda for next year, which included advancing a possible reconciliation measure.

While a reconciliation fight could focus public attention on Democrats’ priorities, there would be downsides. It could spark a big, embarrassing internal fight over what ought to go into a bill. Tackling affordability could cover anything from lowering health care costs to addressing child care to energy prices to housing to taxes. Choosing priorities would be difficult, and risk riling up lawmakers — including powerful committee chairs — whose ideas are left out.

“It’s a challenge,” said incoming House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal of Massachusetts.

Members could pack a lot of ideas into one giant bill, similar to the legislation they passed during the Biden administration, though that would send the cost skyward at a time when the government is running annual deficits of nearly $2 trillion. That would antagonize the party’s fiscal hawks and give Republicans a fat target to criticize.

Democrats could try to pay for it — many of their incoming members campaigned on raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy — but not all lawmakers are enthused about supporting tax hikes that stand no chance of becoming law.

Democrats have other options, like passing a series of smaller, messaging-oriented bills rather than moving one big package. Neal thinks Democrats should initially focus on discrete issues that might have Republican support, like reviving lapsed Obamacare health insurance subsidies, rescinding hospital-funding cuts and repealing Trump's tariffs. He thinks Democrats may even be able to produce veto-proof majorities in favor of killing some of the president's import duties.

“There’s a lot of things that we can do, but I also want to put some victories up on the wall right away,” he said.

A reconciliation package could always come later, Neal said: “If we can do a big one that I think addresses many of the concerns that voters expressed in this cycle, then we should do it.”

But some lawmakers don’t necessarily want to spend next year in a standoff with the White House. And putting together a reconciliation package is a huge undertaking, one that comes with a long list of persnickety rules and requirements that would promise to consume much of lawmakers’ bandwidth.

Beyer said he wants to focus on passing laws, even if agreements are difficult to come by. He sees room for potential agreements on reining in Trump's immigration enforcement tactics, including the administration's use of ICE and various restrictions it’s put on visas, and repealing tariffs.

“Message bills have a role to play but it’s even better if you can actually do something,” said Beyer. “There are middle grounds that may well be signable by the president.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), another potential presidential contender, said it’s “premature” to talk about legislative strategy like reconciliation, especially when Democrats will have at least a dozen new colleagues next year in the Senate who haven’t yet taken office.

But Booker said Democrats should focus on issues with bipartisan appeal.

“The American people have shown the issues they care about are not partisan, from banning stock trading to restoring Medicaid cuts — those are overwhelmingly supported by both sides of the aisle,” he said. “I’m not going to discuss tactics, but the country has really belied left-right partnership and just want things to make their lives better.”

Sorting out those differences will take time, and many lawmakers said conversations have not yet begun in earnest.

“We’re going to go through a process as a caucus to come to a consensus amongst ourselves, including the House,” said Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, in line to become the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat.

He declined to say what approach he prefers.