Democrats win both chambers of Congress, setting up a clash with Trump on health care and probes

A clear mandate in Congress

Democrats regained control of both the House and the Senate in the midterm elections held on Tuesday, 3 November. Ohio and Kansas moved into Democratic hands, and Kansas had not elected a Democrat in almost a century. In Texas, James Talarico became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat there in decades. Bloomberg reports that the party will be in a position to stop Trump from filling any Supreme Court vacancy that arises over the next two years.

Trump's agenda under pressure

Hakeem Jeffries has pledged to outline an agenda within 100 hours of being sworn in as House Speaker on 3 January. He framed the priority this way:

“We're going to aggressively focus on making life more affordable.”

The planned legislation would target areas with uniform Democratic support, including reversing Medicaid cuts, tackling tariffs and attempting to end Trump's Iran war. In late October Trump said he would veto everything if Republicans lost power in either chamber, and on Tuesday he posted an image of a red Maga hat with the word "Veto" on it. Most laws would still need 60 of the 100 senators to clear the filibuster, and progressives want to scrap it through the "nuclear option". Greg Casar, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has argued that bills must be strong enough to tackle the cost of living crisis.

Oversight and the Senate Finance Committee

Ron Wyden will lead the Senate Finance Committee in the next Congress, and on Wednesday, 4 November he previewed an agenda covering taxes, trade and health care. On Bluesky on Tuesday night he posted a single word, "Subpoenas", and the committee's account reposted it. His plans include advancing taxes on the wealthy and cracking down on dealings he says were facilitated by the Trump administration. He said he would call executives of large financial institutions, insurers and pharmaceutical companies before the committee to examine how they worked with Trump. He also pledged to reassert congressional authority over trade policy and to end what he called "disastrous and corrupt tariffs".

“The committee will redouble its efforts to ensure billionaires pay their fair share and hold tax cheats accountable.”

Health care: Medicare for All and Medicaid

POLITICO reports that progressive and Democratic socialist factions are expected to push Medicare for All, although neither Jeffries nor Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has sponsored the current version. KFF found in September that two in three Americans favor "a single government plan", but support fell when respondents heard it would delay medical tests and treatments or require tax increases. A working group convened by Jeffries recommends undoing the $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted in last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act and restoring Obamacare subsidies that lapsed at the end of 2025. Sen. Raphael Warnock argued that drug prices can come down:

“We can have reasonable prices for these drugs, and guess what? These pharmaceutical companies, they'll be just fine.”

What comes next

The new Congress convenes on 3 January 2027, when Jeffries is expected to be sworn in as House Speaker. Beyond rolling back GOP cuts, Democratic leaders are likely to advance bills that do not divide their members, including an expansion of the Medicare drug-price negotiation program created in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The key dates in the sequence so far are shown below.