House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says that if Democrats win the House next month, his party would move “right out of the gate” next year to reinstate Affordable Care Act tax breaks, reverse Republican Medicaid cuts, force votes against the Iran war and undo President Donald Trump’s tariff regime. The proposals would come within the first 100 hours of a new Congress.
The pitch is affordability. The details point toward a larger federal footprint and a long list of confrontations with the White House.
The Agenda
Jeffries, in line to become speaker if Democrats win, laid out his priorities at the party’s campaign headquarters in Washington. “Fighting for an affordable America — that’s what unites Democrats all across the country,” he said, arguing that “the cost of living is way too high” and working families are “drowning — in the Trump economy.”
The first-week plan calls for an early vote to restore Affordable Care Act health care tax credits that expired in 2025, leaving millions of Americans facing higher insurance costs. Democrats also want to reverse Medicaid cuts enacted through the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the Republican package that paired tax breaks with program cuts and added new work requirements for recipients. Democrats would target those requirements for repeal.
On trade, Democrats plan measures to unwind Trump’s tariffs as Congress tries to reclaim power from the White House. They also intend to press the administration to end military action in Iran by advancing more war powers resolutions. Democrats have already forced multiple votes on the conflict.
Oversight From Day One
Jeffries has directed the ranking Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees to prepare investigations of Trump, his family and his administration. He calls it an anti-corruption effort. “We’re going to hold the crooks accountable who’ve visited unprecedented corruption on the American people,” he said. “Beginning on day one.”
Impeachment? Jeffries says it’s neither on nor off the table.
Unity Test
The agenda will test whether House Democrats can hold together. They’ve been out of power in the House since 2023. If Jeffries wins the gavel, he’d become the first Democratic speaker since Nancy Pelosi, leading a new generation of lawmakers that includes several far-left candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Democrats say the concern is overblown. Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, rejected comparisons to the Republican Freedom Caucus. “The Freedom Caucus breaks things,” he told The Associated Press. “But if you’re a progressive, you want to pass things.” Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana, who hopes to chair the Congressional Black Caucus, said, “All those banking on that, save the popcorn for another day.”
The party’s outside allies suggest the pressure is real. Usamah Andrabi, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, an outside group backing far-left progressives, said: “We cannot simply go back to the status quo.”
Jeffries has tried to manage tensions through party structure. Months ago, he formed five working groups on healthcare, housing, groceries and goods, gas and utilities, and caregiving, each led by one progressive and one centrist. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama run the healthcare group. Rep. Nikki Budzinski of Illinois, poised to chair the New Democrat Coalition, the largest caucus within House Democrats, said the aim is to show that “Democrats know how to govern.”
The Republican Response
Republicans face a tougher election-year environment as they defend their majority. They portray Democrats as beholden to a far-left socialist agenda. Speaker Mike Johnson said that if Republicans keep control, they’ll continue the course they’ve pursued with Trump, focused on cutting taxes and federal spending. “What we would do in the next two years is exactly what we have been doing already,” Johnson said on CNBC’s Squawk Box, “and that is putting the conditions in place for a strong America again.”
Limits on the Plan
The scope of any Democratic agenda would depend partly on the size of the House majority and whether the party also wins the Senate. Trump would keep his veto power. Even Carter conceded the point: “We will not be able to fix everything overnight.”
Why This Matters:
The plan puts two competing theories of affordability in front of voters. Democrats would restore expired health subsidies, roll back Medicaid work requirements and cut spending reforms, and unwind tariffs. Republicans would keep cutting taxes and federal spending. The source gives no price tag for the Democratic package, a gap voters and markets will likely want filled before November. A Trump veto, a possible Republican Senate and the left-center balancing act inside Jeffries’ own caucus all stand between the 100-hour promise and actual law. From a limited-government view, the larger question is whether broader federal subsidies and a standing slate of investigations serve working families better than lower taxes and restrained spending.