The Top 15 Moves the New Congress Will Attempt

I’ve combed various sources to make my list of likely Democratic initiatives if President Trump wasn’t standing by with his veto. 

The actual Democratic agenda may be different.

But these all look likely …

• Expand Child Tax Credits. Restore the American Rescue Plan child tax credits to provide immediate cash flow to working families. This is a top priority of the Dems
  
  
• Reverse Trump’s Medicare & Medicaid Cuts. President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in July 2025, cut $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade. 

  Senators Ron Wyden and Chuck Schumer are leading the charge to reverse those cuts.

• Expand Medicare & Medicaid. There is less consensus on whether, and how, to expand these programs. 

  Progressive Dems want “Medicare for All,” but leadership is pushing a “public option” that would compete directly with insurance companies. 

  Also, many Dems want to lower the Medicare enrollment age from 65 down to 60 or 55.

• Housing Supply & Affordability. Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and provide federal matching grants to cities and towns that eliminate restrictive zoning rules to spur the construction of multi-family and starter homes.
  
  
• The Freedom to Vote Act. Establishing nationwide baselines for federal elections, including uniform early voting windows, automatic voter registration, no-excuse mail-in balloting and independent redistricting commissions to curb partisan gerrymandering.
  
  
• Federal Minimum Wage Increase. Raise the federal baseline wage from $7.25 per hour toward $15 or $17 per hour and phase out the tipped subminimum wage.
  
  
• Let High-Earner TCJA Cuts Expire. Dems oppose extending individual and estate tax cuts for households earning over $400,000 enacted under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
  
  
• Billionaire Minimum Income Tax. Establishing a mandatory minimum tax rate on the total income — including unrealized capital gains — of ultra-high-net-worth households.
  
  
• Raise Corporate Taxes. President Trump cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Dems will probably push to get at least some of that back to patch the giant hole in America’s budget.
  
  
• Taxing Capital Gains & Non-Wage Wealth. Impose additional payroll-equivalent taxes on investment income, dividends and capital gains for individuals making more than $400,000 a year.
  
  
• Save Social Security. Unless something is done, the Social Security Trust Fund will see automatic, across-the-board benefit cuts of 20% or more within the next decade.

  Republicans proposed raising the retirement age to fix it. Dems are pushing to “scrap the cap” on payroll taxes. 

  Currently, Social Security taxes only apply to the first $184,500 of income. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed eliminating the cap.

• Ban Congressional Stock Trading. Both sides of Congress like to trade stocks, so we’ll see if this horse gets out of the barn.
  
  
• Ethics Rules for the Supreme Court. This would impose a binding code of conduct on Supreme Court justices, banning them from receiving undisclosed luxury travel, gifts and real estate transactions. 

  Dems also want to close bribery loopholes for former government officials.

• AI Regulation. Dems have proposed a broad set of AI regulations, including federal licensing and auditing, banning bailouts for AI companies and requiring AI companies to pay for necessary power grid expansions. 

  Sen. Ron Wyden is pushing proposals to limit tax breaks for AI companies.

  Other regulations Democrats have proposed include banning employers from using AI exclusively to make hiring and firing decisions, limiting invasive workplace surveillance and limiting the collection of sensitive personal data on workers.

• Robot Tax. Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona proposes that if a company replaces a worker with AI or automation, it should still have to pay payroll taxes and Social Security contributions for the job it replaced.

Even though President Trump has the power to veto any of these agenda items, Congress can overrule that power with enough support.

So, it’s important to be ready for what legislation we might see in the new Congress.

All the best,

Sean Brodrick