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With just two weeks until the country votes in a new House of Representatives and 35 new (or returning) senators, a question is starting to bubble to the surface: What does each party want to do with its potential congressional power? We’ve heard that the “cost-of-living crisis” will be a top priority, and that each party will work to make the nation stronger, but is it all just “vibes”? In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a concrete set of policies, let alone anything resembling a costed manifesto.
Priority Number One?
CNN’s Jake Tapper put the question of Democrats’ plans for governance to North Carolina Rep. Don Davis, asking:
“House Democrats, as a whole, have not presented any sort of cohesive plan for how you guys are going to legislate if you do win the House, which many people think is likely to happen. What would you say is priority number one, legislatively? What’s the plan to get it done, knowing that you’re going to have to have President Trump either veto it or sign it into law? What’s number one?”
If keen listeners were hoping for a play-by-play response, they were sorely disappointed.
Davis responded, “What I’ve been — begun to hear on all sides, whether they be Republicans or Democrats, affordability costs, and, as I said, survival.” He continued:
“We should, everyone, show up in the 120th Congress, laser-focused on helping to address costs. These are the concerns I’m hearing. I hear it from our farmers. I hear it from commercial fishermen. Right now, the price of fuel is so high. And we have to make sure that we are addressing the issues that are on the minds of the American people. And if we’re just saying this around election time, and then typical politicians show up and do anything else, then we’re doing a disservice to the families that we are elected to serve.”
It would take more than a perfect SAT score to determine quite what the list of priorities coming from Rep. Davis actually is. Politicos on both sides of the divide are drilling deep into the well of “affordability” as a midterm message – after all, it worked incredibly well for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. But highlighting the issue is not the same as delivering an answer to it.
Power for Power’s Sake
On the cost of living, President Donald Trump has adopted a kitchen sink strategy — as in, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it. Results have been, at best, mixed. Gas is still too high, the American Dream stretches further out of reach, and the number of Americans who are one unexpected bill away from disaster continues to grow.
Even critics would have to admit that he has made significant efforts to reduce costs. And most of them have, so far, failed to have a substantial impact. But what would the 120th Congress do differently?
We know that should Democrats succeed in taking back the Senate, there would be an almost complete stop on judicial confirmations. There’s also growing chatter of impeachments, both for the president and for Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Neither of which has anything to do with the cost of living.
There’s also talk of restoring the Affordable Care Act subsidies, and rescinding Trump’s tariffs. If Trump balks at the ACA subsidy, he can — and likely will — just veto it. Same goes with the tariffs. Of note, the majority of data suggests that these tariffs have not really impacted day-to-day costs anyway.
Do Republicans have a raft of policies ready to go should they buck the odds and retain the lower chamber? First up, there’s the $5,000 “Trump Dividend.” This is more a Trump wish than a legislative policy, and the odds of it actually happening without significant legal challenges are slim.
And the SAVE Act on election integrity? Well, it’s not passed yet despite the GOP holding the trifecta. And then there’s Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to expand tax cuts, especially for things like a tax on tips (which is due to expire in 2028).
It’s a motley collection of promises that thus far has either been voted down, passed over, or just proven to be unworkable. What does that leave the voter with when it comes to making a discerning choice on their ballot paper besides vibes, vibes, and more vibes?
Let’s hope this doesn’t become the norm for all forthcoming elections. As Ronald Reagan famously quipped, “'Status Quo' is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’”
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