Dem
47
GOP
53
While Democrats have limited power in Congress, it is not zero. In the Senate, of course, they have the filibuster. But even in the House they have some power. In particular, the Big-Beautiful-Kitchen-Sink bill that Donald Trump wants will probably be cobbled together in the House. Different parts of the bill will be written or marked up by different committees. What Democrats are going to do is force votes on some parts of the GOP agenda. They will lose all the votes, but it will require Republican members to go on the record supporting things like cutting Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps), as well as supporting big tax cuts for billionaires. These votes will be used in campaign ads in 2026. The strategy will be used in the Energy and Commerce Committee, Agriculture Committee, and Ways and Means Committee, among many others.
As long as the discussions about the agenda are vague and generalized, it is easy to defend anything. But when specific language is inserted into the bill and a Democrat makes a motion to strip it and asks for a vote, that is when the rubber meets the road. Anne Shoup, a senior adviser to Protect Our Care, one of the best-funded groups that will fight for Medicaid, said: "They won't have anywhere to hide."
Democrats are basically going to rerun the playbook that gave them control of the House after the 2018 midterms. Then they hammered Republicans for months on the votes they made to repeal the Affordable Care Act and enact tax cuts for billionaires. It worked well. Democrats flipped 41 seats.
Democrats are specifically targeting Republicans in swing districts on certain committees. For example, Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO), Tom Kean (R-NJ) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) are going to have to vote on changes to Medicaid that will be extremely unpopular back home. Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) are going to have to vote on cutting SNAP benefits. Given the narrow margins on some of the committees, in some cases, even a few defections could kill a provision, so Republicans may be forced to vote for things that they know are toxic in their districts. (V)