House Democratic Leaders Say Their First Votes After Taking Power in January Will Focus on Boosting Medicaid, Restoring Affordable Care Act Subsidy Help, Ending the Iran War and Rolling Back Some of President Trump's Tariffs
Sunday, November 8, 2026
House Democratic leaders say their first votes after the new Congress is sworn in on January 3 will focus on healthcare — boosting Medicaid and restoring the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidy that lowers plan costs for millions of people who buy their own coverage.
At the top of the list is reversing the Medicaid changes in the Republican tax-and-spending law, which are projected to cut more than $900 billion from the program over a decade. Medicaid enrollment has already fallen by about 5 million people — roughly 7 percent — since July 2025, according to KFF figures reported by the Associated Press.
The early agenda reaches beyond healthcare. Democratic leaders say they will move swiftly on legislation to end the war with Iran — a war that began on February 28 and continues with no ceasefire in force, despite 14 war-powers votes in the Senate and six in the House — and on bills to roll back some of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Democrats won more than 250 of the House's 435 seats in Tuesday's midterms, putting Leader Hakeem Jeffries in line to become Speaker. Jeffries has said five working groups are developing bills aimed at the cost of housing, energy, groceries and caregiving, and Rep. Ted Lieu says Democrats will also take up artificial intelligence.
What stands in the way is plain. Passing these bills in the House is not in doubt, but most legislation in the Senate needs 60 votes to clear a filibuster, and Trump has signalled he is ready to veto Democratic bills — on election night he posted a photo of a red cap bearing the word “VETO.” Overriding a veto takes two-thirds of both chambers, and Democrats do not have that.
For ordinary families, the promise is concrete: for households on Medicaid or buying coverage through the Affordable Care Act, restored subsidies would mean lower premiums and coverage kept rather than lost. But honesty requires the other half too — because of the Senate threshold and the likely veto, no family's costs change on January 3 itself. Democrats tie ending the Iran war to gas prices, and argue tariff rollbacks would ease prices on groceries and goods; Republicans dispute both claims.
This is the Democrats' governing agenda for the country after the midterms, and it sets the fights Washington will have in January: over healthcare costs, over the war, and over the prices Americans pay at the store.
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