Congress
Some Democrats plan boycott of Trump’s State of the Union
A slate of Democrats plan to skip President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress next week and instead will attend a counterprogramming event on the National Mall that same evening.
The rally, dubbed the “People’s State of the Union,” will include lawmakers who skipped Trump’s first and second inaugurations, underscoring a small but consistent block of Democrats who continue to opt out of the president’s most high-profile events.
Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) are expected to join the rally, organizers said Wednesday.
“These aren’t normal times and showing up for this speech puts a veneer of legitimacy on the corruption and lawlessness that has defined his second term,” Murphy said in a statement.
Ansari, who walked out of Trump’s address to Congress last year, said the rally continues her earlier protest.
“Americans deserve an honest account of the state of our union,” she said.
She said she plans to bring in a guest who was targeted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The liberal group MoveOn is hosting the rally alongside other organizations, including the popular Democratic-aligned podcasting and media network MeidasTouch.
The White House dismissed the boycott, saying Democrats have routinely worked to thwart the administration’s policy goals.
“It’s not a surprise that they refuse to celebrate and honor the Americans who have benefited from the commonsense policies Republicans have governed with,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.
Democrats have boycotted a series of Trump’s biggest moments throughout both of his terms. Of the dozens of House Democrats who skipped Trump’s first inauguration, 31 were still in Congress and seven chose to attend his second one, signaling a faded resistance from the first Trump era.
Trump is set to deliver his address Tuesday night, even as a partial government shutdown continues, prompting concerns from some senior Hill Republicans and White House officials about the optics.
But Republicans also see the address as an opportunity to shift the focus away from mounting negative headlines — including fatal shootings by federal immigration agents in Minnesota and scrutiny over the release of the Epstein files — and instead bolster its economic messaging ahead of the midterms.
Democrats’ massive blue wave could get even bigger, as a handful of key races remain uncalled.
Senate
Alaska: Votes in the battleground Senate race between GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola are still being counted.
Mississippi: Just 43 votes separate Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom and GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. The state does not allow recounts, even by request of either candidate, so the final tally will be determinative in that state.
HouseAnd a handful of House Republicans are awaiting calls in their races, including the following notable names:
- Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the person responsible for getting House Republicans elected. The NRCC chair is locked in a tight battle for against Democrat Richard Ojeda.
- Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, who’s trying to fend off Democrat Eileen Laubacher.
- Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who’s neck and neck with Democrat Leela Gray.
Democrats are poised to control Congress next year. And once they’re done celebrating their sweeping 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 BLN 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.
Democrats are on track to win complete control of Congress, setting the stage for an unrelenting oversight platform in the next Congress that will zero in on both the Trump administration and the special interests that Republicans were reluctant to scrutinize over the last two years.
According to interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers, aides and attorneys, Democrats plan to use their new subpoena power and agenda-setting authority to target possible corruption among members of President Donald Trump’s family, Elon Musk’s leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency and the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
They could demand testimony from the chief executives of Big Tech on social media addiction, the dangers of artificial intelligence and the negative impacts data centers are having on local communities. They could haul in the heads of leading oil companies to answer for allegations the industry waged a decadeslong climate misinformation campaign to continue reaping massive profits.
And these are just a few items on the to-do list.
“I’d expect some pretty epic battles between the administration and Congress, as well as private sector targets that are prepared to fight back against Congress,” said Aaron Cutler, a partner at Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and former aide to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Many major Washington law firms, expecting a favorable night for Democrats, have already started hiring experienced lawyers to help their clients navigate new congressional scrutiny, Cutler added.
“LAWYER UP,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, posted on social media Tuesday as the party’s House majority was coming into focus.
The risk, however, is that Democrats’ vast investigative ambitions backfire, sucking up oxygen that might otherwise be spent trying to legislate. Though Trump is unlikely to sign many, if any, bills Democrats send to his desk that aren’t considered “must-pass,” Democrats will still be under pressure to show they can do something, even if it’s just laying the groundwork for a legislative agenda the party can enact if they also retake the White House in 2028.
“I think we would put the priority on things that have had an impact on cost of living for the American people — so any kind of corruption with the administration that has raised costs,” said Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who, as a member of the House, led impeachment proceedings against the president in the first Trump administration.
Schiff suggested one such potential line of inquiry could be into Amazon.
“If federal contracting decisions are made not because a vendor has the best product or is offering it for the best price, but because, in the case of Amazon, it was willing to pay $40 million for a crappy movie about Melania [Trump], is that resulting in Amazon getting an advantage in cloud computing contracts or other defense contracts — that’s the kind of thing that costs taxpayers money, costs consumers more money, and there have been so many business payoffs of one sort or another,” said Schiff, referring to the first lady.
Over in the House, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wants to look into surveillance pricing, in which AI tools track a customer’s online habits to determine how much they should be paying for basic goods like groceries — and potentially driving up costs for everyone in the process. It’s an issue that energizes progressives, like Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar of Texas, as well as Republicans: Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri held a hearing on the issue in August.
Democrats are likewise expected to build on their oversight of data centers, including operators’ commitments to cover the full energy costs associated with their infrastructure, according to several senior committee Democrats and Democratic congressional aides.
They say they will also try to expose ways in which the administration’s actions could be contributing to high energy prices and more pollution, from the Iran war to the cancellation and slow-walking of renewable energy projects. Inquiries into prescription drug pricing could also lead to policy recommendations aimed at lowering health care costs.
But Democrats also could be heading towards a clash with some members intent on pursuing a more partisan, take-no-prisoners approach toward their oversight duties.
For instance, Garcia and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committees, have made clear they consider the Jeffrey Epstein investigation unfinished business. Raskin, a week before the midterms, released a staff report detailing sexual assault allegations against Trump by five separate women in a possible preview of the lines of inquiry Democrats could pursue.
The possibility that Democrats could undertake politically divisive impeachment proceedings against any number of Cabinet officials also looms large. Some Democrats are eager to oust the president himself, with Raskin saying over the summer he would not rule that out — even though the party is certain to remain well short of the two-thirds needed to convict in the Senate.
“I want to go straight to the top: Donald Trump,” Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview regarding impeachment. “And then everybody who was complicit in allowing him to do what he’s done, or working in concert with him on illegal things.”
One person in Trump’s orbit likely to absorb much of Democrats’ scrutiny is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is already the subject of a House impeachment effort.
Hegseth and the Defense Department could face even more scrutiny next year if Rep. Adam Smith, the Washington Democrat in line to be the next chair of the House Armed Services Committee, decides to revive a subcommittee dedicated solely to Pentagon oversight issues.
Smith will need to balance a need to reach bipartisan compromise on an annual defense policy package with the whole list of Pentagon controversies his members want to pursue. That includes a full accounting of the cost and impact of the Iran war, politicization of the military and Hegseth’s own performance.
“To be candid, Donald Trump should have already fired this guy,” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. “I think this Iran war has been disastrous. It’s a major part of contributing to the cost of living emergency. American people are mad about it.”
On the House Ways and Means Committee, Democrats want to put forward new proposals to expand the popular child tax credit and beef up breaks for child-care expenses, and potentially work with Republicans on tax issues relating to retirees. The Senate Finance Committee could take up an idea floated over the summer by the likely incoming Senate Democratic Leader, Chuck Schumer, to quadruple a tax on stock buybacks by corporations.
But Democratic taxwriters are just as likely to spend next year scrutinizing the controversial decision to excuse Trump from IRS audits as part of a broader settlement between the president and the Justice Department, as well as the tax agency’s collaboration with Homeland Security to crack down on illegal immigration. They’ve also signaled plans to look into the tech industry’s use of corporate tax breaks, including whether Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s should be allowed to claim a research subsidy in conjunction with his company’s data center construction.
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who are expected to return as chairs of House Ways and Means and Senate Finance, could face renewed calls to seize Trump’s still-hidden tax returns — a demand both men contended with during the first Trump administration.
The Senate’s primary oversight panel, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, could center on DHS’s execution of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who is in line to chair Homeland Security next year, has spent the past year building a team to help her use her position to “investigate and hold President Trump and his Administration accountable for its widespread corruption and wrongdoing,” said a person granted anonymity to describe her private planning. Members of that team have experience working in the White House, DHS and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Hassan’s staff, the person said, will deploy resources to focus on “egregious” wrongdoing where there is “clear disapproval from the majority of Americans.”
Ari Hawkins, Andres Picon, Alfred Ng, Brian Faler, Connor O’Brien, Gabby Miller and Owen Dahlkamp contributed to this report.
-
Politics2 years agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
Politics1 year agoJohn Legend advises Trump to drop the ‘dictator s‑‑‑’ if he wants Nobel Peace Prize
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
The Dictatorship2 years agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics2 years agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
The Dictatorship2 years agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics2 years agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit