When members of Congress return from recess this week, they will face challenges in their efforts to effect legislative change.
The GOP is attempting to codify President Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda with narrow majorities in the House and Senate, all while a growing faction of Democrats is pushing for leadership to resist Trump even more.
The following are some of the major issues and hurdles ahead.
Budget Reconciliation
Coming off of a win on passing a stopgap budget bill to avoid a federal government shutdown, Republicans will now turn to the budget reconciliation—a parliamentary process that will determine whether Republicans can extend Trump’s expiring 2017 tax cuts and provide funding for border security and defense, and also facilitate the production of natural gas.
Republicans now face the difficult task of balancing each other’s priorities in the budget reconciliation process.
The House and the Senate will have to agree on a framework for funding their various priorities—tax cuts, defense, border security—while also keeping spending at a level acceptable to budget hawks.
Making Trump’s Executive Orders Law
Another of the top priorities of Republicans in Congress is to etch Trump’s numerous executive orders into law.
Trump’s orders have already drastically restructured how the government operates—removing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and requirements from departments; ordering the dismantling of the Department of Education; and directing officials to get to work on tariffs and facilitating natural gas production.
Now, a large group of Republicans wants to make sure that these orders are made into law.
That push has already met resistance. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, for example, was killed by Democrats in the Senate before it could reach the floor.
The bill would have prevented transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, a proposal that enjoys nearly 80% approval from Americans in polls. It would also have dovetailed with Trump’s order to restrict funding to institutions that allow biologically male transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The need for 60 votes to end debate in the Senate may hamstring much of the Republican effort to make Trump’s orders law.
Republicans and Democrats might find some areas to work together on a bipartisan basis, however.
Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., who represents a swing district, is working alongside Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, on a bill to lower senior citizens’ drug prices under Medicare.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who also represents a purple district, is working on the WISH Act, which would create a new fund to provide senior citizens with health care coverage.
Will Democrats Come to Terms With Republicans?
Shortly before the Senate voted on cloture for the continuing resolution, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told The Daily Signal she was confident Democrats would become more cooperative with Republicans.
“I actually have great optimism the Democrats will get their land legs back under them. They always have. Right at the moment, they’re flailing a bit, but that won’t last,” she said, adding: “They’ll either find ways to work with Republicans to get some of their policy priorities included, and if they don’t, this flailing with opposition instead of legislating will hurt them in the 2026 election cycle.”
But since Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s vote to support the continuing resolution in order to avert a federal government shutdown, a growing contingent of Democrats has been harshly criticizing Democrat leadership for what they see as a failure to resist Republicans’ legislative agenda.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has been leading this wave of criticism, saying at a rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., “I want you to look at every level of office around and support brawlers who fight, because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans.”
Messaging for 2026
But complete obstruction of the Republican legislative agenda could prove to be a risky move for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Republicans are already eyeing 26 Democrat-held House seats.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is optimistic about bucking a long-observed trend and expanding the GOP’s legislative majority in the midterms, given Trump’s success in swing districts in 2024.
Following the 2016 presidential election, in the 2018 cycle, “there were only 12 House Democrats in Trump-won districts, while there were 25 Republicans in Clinton-won districts. This cycle, there are 13 Democrats in Trump-won districts and only three Republicans in Harris-won districts,” reads a memo on the NRCC website.
Thus, swing-district Democrats will have to make difficult choices as they face pressure from multiple angles—Republicans eager to paint them as leftist radicals in order to capture their seats, and hard-line left-wingers encouraging them to push back against Trump even more.
Pfluger told The Daily Signal last week that swing district Democrats “have to go back and explain to their constituency why they voted against President Trump’s executive order legislation” if they oppose the Republican agenda.
Atypical Bipartisanship
Nevertheless, some long-shot opportunities for impactful bipartisan work exist.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., has joined forces with Ocasio-Cortez, introducing a bill that would cap interest rates on credit cards—a far cry from the free-market policies associated with Republicans. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is sponsoring the bill in the senate.
Although the bill is likely to rankle many Republican congressmen and leadership, there have already been signs that Democrats are willing to occasionally work alongside a growing faction of economic interventionists in the GOP.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a pro-union former Republican member of Congress who has received the backing of the Teamsters union, gained several Democrat votes in her confirmation process, with the Senate clearing her way in a 67-32 vote.
Although Trump’s second term has already pushed forward great change, the path toward lasting legislative accomplishments will be a difficult one and will require an unusual amount of cooperation from Democrats.
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