Democrats plan affordability agenda and Trump scrutiny after midterm win

Democrats won the 2026 US midterm elections resoundingly, Al Jazeera reported, and the party's leaders in both chambers of Congress have been celebrating the result. The new majorities take control in January.

Hakeem Jeffries is set to become House Speaker, and Chuck Schumer is set to become Senate Majority Leader. CNBC reported that Jeffries is poised to become the first Black Speaker of the House in US history.

According to CNBC, Democratic leaders plan to introduce legislation on the cost of living, undoing Trump's tariffs and ending the war in Iran. They plan to pass a flurry of bills after taking office.

In their first 100 hours, House Democrats plan to bring bills reinstating enhanced health insurance subsidies that expired under the Republican-held Congress. They also plan bills to reverse Medicaid cuts that Trump signed into law last year.

Democrats also plan a bill to undo Trump's sweeping tariffs and reassert Congress's role in setting import taxes. They will again vote on legislation to end the Iran war or force Trump to seek congressional authorization to continue it.

Democrats also plan an oversight agenda to scrutinise Trump, his family, cabinet and business supporters. Jeffries said: "We haven't evaluated who are going to be the targets of the investigation right out of the gate. We'll have those conversations over the next couple of weeks." Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the focus "will be affordability for us, accountability for them."

Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Democrats should target figures such as Elon Musk and cabinet secretaries including Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Todd Blanche. She said: "I think what we should do is pick one or two cases that really exemplify the worst of the corruption, and that we feel we have the most evidence of wrongdoing." Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has vowed to take on Trump's family, corporate corruption, DHS and ICE overreach, and the handling of the Epstein files.

Some Democrats are also pursuing an ethics package that could ban stock trading and prediction markets for government officials, ban gerrymandering federally and limit super PAC spending.