CNBC has learned that the newly elected Democratic majority in the Senate and House of Representatives plans to push a series of bills as soon as possible after taking control of legislative power in January next year, and is ready to engage in confrontation with the hostile U.S. President Donald Trump.
This legislative initiative aims to demonstrate a united Democratic caucus that takes prompt action on the issues they were elected to address, particularly the persistently high costs of various goods ranging from gasoline to food groceries.
Within the first 100 hours after taking office, Democrats in the House of Representatives plan to submit the bill for a vote. The bill includes the restoration of enhanced healthcare subsidies that expired under Republican control of Congress, as well as the reversal of the medical assistance cuts that Trump signed into law last year.
Democrats – likely led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ( Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic, New York State), who has the potential to become the first black Speaker of the House in U.S. history – also plan to push for a bill to overturn the wide-ranging tariffs imposed by Trump and to reassert Congress's role in setting import duties. They will also vote again on legislation to end the Iran war or to force Trump to seek congressional authorization before continuing with the war. Some details of the Democrats' plans were previously reported by The New York Times.
But Democrats also need to strike a balance between these legislative priorities and a strong agenda for oversight and investigation; the party is working on this agenda to examine Trump, his family, cabinet members, and their business supporters.
Jeffreys said to CNBC on Wednesday: "We haven't yet assessed who will be the target of the investigation at the beginning. We will discuss this in the coming weeks."
"But obviously, the situation for the American people is not good. Capitalism has failed in the way that many working-class and middle-class Americans have experienced it. We must ensure that we build an economy, a free market economy, that can serve the average American," said Jeffreys.
In the past few months, Democrats have repeatedly emphasized the message of "affordability" in their campaign activities. As corruption has become a primary concern for voters in the latter months of the election, they have tried to link the perceived improper actions of the Trump administration to the wallets of Americans.
Nowadays, as they prepare to gain a majority of seats in both houses of Congress, well-known Democrats are also adopting similar strategies.
Sen. Ron Wyden, a senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and a senator from Oregon ( Ron Wyden ), stated on Wednesday that the committee's top priority "will be to make it affordable for us and to hold them accountable."
Wyden stated that the committee will intensify its efforts to ensure that billionaires pay their fair share of taxes, to address the "strangling control of our healthcare system by corporations," and to re-establish congressional authority over trade. He also vowed to take action against the "special interest groups" that have leaned towards Trump over the past two years.
Wyden said, "From the banks that helped cover up Epstein's crimes, to the insurance companies that delayed and denied medical services in pursuit of profit, to the pharmaceutical executives who still raised drug prices while enjoying the benefits personally bestowed by Trump, when I am chairman, they will all be forced to explain their roles in harming the American people and fueling Trump's corruption to the Senate Finance Committee."
California Representative Robert Garcia ( Robert Garcia ) is the Democratic leader of the House Oversight Committee. He has vowed to take action against corruption within the Trump family and their businesses, overreaching actions by the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as the handling of documents related to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Tuesday evening, as the results swung in favor of the Democrats, Garcia made a sharp-tongued two-word statement: "Get a lawyer."
Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic representative from Washington state, former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and member of the House Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee, stated in a recent interview with CNBC that she believes Democrats should target individuals such as Elon Musk, as well as cabinet officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Attorney General Todd Blanchette.
But she also acknowledges that pursuing a large number of potential targets simultaneously presents challenges, especially within a Democratic caucus that may be difficult to control and is characterized by diverse ideologies.
Jaya Pal said, "I think we should select one or two cases that truly reflect the most serious corruption and for which we have the most evidence of improper conduct. There are too many cases; I believe it's important to focus on a few of them."
Meanwhile, other Democrats are pushing for some form of moral reform agenda, which may include banning government officials from trading stocks and using predictive markets, establishing federal-level bans on market manipulation, as well as restricting the spending of super political action committees (_super PAC).
Rep. Seth Magazina of Rhode Island ( Seth Magaziner ) stated: "My expectation is that when the Democrats become the majority party, we will pass a strong bill to prohibit stock trading by Congress, the executive branch, and on a broader scale, and this will be part of a larger package of moral reforms that we will push for." Magazina has long advocated for such legislation.
