Transcript of Democrats' First 100 Hours, Outstanding Midterm Races, Trump Doubles Down On Policies

Democrats' historic wins to take back Congress mean they have to deliver on promises that resonated with voters.

Lowering costs, rooting out corruption, and pushing back on President Trump. Can they do it with Trump promising to be Mr. Veto?

I'm Ian Martinez, that's Leila Faddel, and this is Up First from NPR News. Vice President Vance says Trump vants voters showed up at the polls. The problem is many of them chose the other side and voted for Democrats. He blames the Warner Ron.

Trump mostly agreed and said he'd make the same decision again.

Probably true, but at the same time, if I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again.

So what, if anything, is the president taking from an election scene as a rebuke of his leadership? Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day. For more than a year, Democrats hammered one message at every opportunity: put them in charge, and Congress will take action to lower costs and stamp out corruption.

Voters have now put them in charge. Come January, they'll take control of the House and the Senate after historic wins across the country. So what are Democrats' plans now to make good on their central campaign promise?

NPR Congressional Reporter Sam Greenglass joins us now to talk about this. Good morning, Sam.

Hey, Leila.

Okay, in the new year, Democrats take power. Where do they start?

In the first 100 hours, Democrats want to restore enhanced ACA health subsidies, reverse Medicaid cuts that Republicans passed last year, reassert Congress's prerogative over tariffs, and try to force an end to the war with Iran. All priorities Democrats have near-total consensus on.

Now, Democrats will have healthy margins in both chambers, but this will still be a divided government, so they'll need support from Republicans to get things done. Can they get that?

Yeah, you're right. Most legislation still needs 60 votes to pass the Senate. President Trump has vacillated between promising to be, quote, "Mr. Veto," and saying he's open to working with Democrats. Last week in Michigan, I asked Democratic Senator-elect Abdul Al-Sayed about Democrats, you know, overpromising and under-delivering.

I want us to get to the work of passing legislation now. If Donald Trump vetoes that, that's on him. But I think you're going to start to see a whole lot of Republicans thinking twice about whether or not they want these Medicaid cuts, for example, to go through.

Al-Sayed, like most of his future colleagues, recognizes voters are expecting Democrats to act. Congress has other tools, like withholding funding for the war, and we know investigations will be a huge focus too. The next chair of the House Oversight Committee put out a statement on election night directed at Trump and his orbit. It was just two words: lawyer up.

Now, we've been talking about fairly straightforward actions in these early days, but voters sent a message that they are hungry for sweeping changes. And the question right now is, what is the face of this party? Is it progressive, or is it closer to center?

Yeah, so yesterday the likely next House Speaker, Hakeem Jeffries, was telling reporters that Democrats are going to usher in bold, dramatic change. What exactly that looks like seems to be a work in progress, literally. Democrats have these working groups on topics like gas and groceries, utilities, housing, caregiving. Each is helmed by two Democrats, one from the left, one from the center. And Jeffries said the caucus is going to have a family conversation about what comes after that initial consensus 100-hour agenda.

That doesn't sound like consensus, though, going forward, about how to go about a broader agenda.

Yeah, before the election, one of the top Senate Democrats, Brian Schottz, said, "If we want to be more aspirational, that's for 2028." The Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, though, Greg Kassar, pushed back, saying Democrats have far to go to win back trust and cannot just tinker around the edges. Top Democrats this week are downplaying that tension. Tuesday night, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi on NPR was saying Democrats agree, they just differ about how fast to go.

How much power does this new progressive crop of Democrats actually have to push Democratic leadership in their direction?

Well, it's limited because the Democrats' margins are so big. Still, I think this wave election for Democrats also amps up the pressure. I've been thinking about this one voter I met over the summer who told me if Democrats take control, they better do something or it won't matter who the party nominates for president in 2028.

That's NPR Congressional Reporter Sam Greenglass. Thank you, Sam.

You're welcome.

We're getting an even clearer picture of the massive size and scope of Democrats' wins this week.

Yeah, Democrats beat Republicans in districts and states where President Trump won by double digits just two years ago.

NPR Senior Political Correspondent Tamara Keith is here to dig into the numbers. Good morning.

Good morning.

So we know the Democrats will control Congress in the new year, but not by how much. What's the latest on the balance of power in Congress?

We're still waiting on Senate results from Alaska and Mississippi. If these races break toward Democrats, that would bring the Democratic majority to 54, plus the two independents who caucus with them. And while that still wouldn't be a filibuster-proof majority, it's a lot of breathing room. Democrats haven't had this big of a majority in the Senate since they passed the Affordable Care Act early in the Obama administration. And in the House, we're still waiting for quite a few races to be called. There's a lot of close ones.

Where around the country is that most obvious?

Everywhere. It is hard to fully describe the scope of this because so many races ended up surprising people. Two places come to mind. Nevada's second district has been represented by a Republican since it was created in the early 1980s. That race was called overnight for the Democrat Theresa Benitez Thompson. And Congressman Shomari Figures in Alabama was targeted by redistricting, drawn out of his hometown. In 2024, that district, as it was drawn now, would have gone to Trump by 14 points.

You know, the president asked voters to pretend he was on the ballot, and he campaigned heavily in red states ahead of the election. Did that move the needle in any of these races?

I mean, maybe in the wrong direction. Earlier this year, the president held a dinner in the Rose Garden with members of Congress in competitive races, and there were about 25 of them there. He pledged to campaign for them. He said he was going to make sure they won. And I've been thinking about that list a lot lately, wondering how it would turn out for them. At this point, only three of those frontline lawmakers are on pace to survive this tsunami. And I mention this just to show how much of a rout it has been for Republicans.

Now, obviously, there's still a lot of data to absorb, but what are you seeing as the top reasons as to why the electorate shifted so much?

Yeah, President Trump won in 2024 because voters were upset about the economy, and he promised no new wars. And then the president came in and focused on his personal agenda. He started a new war with Iran, and the economy got more painful for people. I was particularly struck by Vice President J.D. Vance saying in a social media post that the war was a problem for Republicans in this election and that it's not that President Trump's voters from 2024 stayed home. It's that they showed up and voted for Democrats.

NPR's Tamara Keith, thank you, Tam.

You're welcome.

President Trump's first public appearance after Republicans lost the House and Senate was not about the election. It was to talk about his East Wing ballroom construction project.

He was asked about the election, though, and he said he doesn't think he's to blame.

And if I was on the ballot, we would have won. But they just, you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies. It was an incredible one. We weren't able to transfer the love to candidates.

NPR's Emily Fang was among the reporters at the event, and she joins us now. Good morning, Emily.

Good morning.

So what is the White House saying about Republicans' losses?

Despite the fact that there has been a lot of soul-searching among Republican Party elders about what the party is after Trump, given these elections were such a rebuke of Trump himself, Trump has been defiant. And yesterday, after the election, he was concerned with other issues. So as you heard, he was at an event to showcase construction of his East Wing ballroom project, and he spent far longer talking about the marble and his various other construction projects than dissecting how the Republicans had lost so badly. Take a listen.

Now envision chandeliers all over your ceiling. Envision marble floors. Oh, it's going to be beautiful. This will be the most beautiful ballroom.

And then in other media appearances, Trump has blamed various Republican candidates for not being good enough for the loss. He's lashed out at polls that he didn't like from Fox News as well, though I want to point out a lot of those polls were borne out by the final voter tallies. And Trump has been quick to point out, you know, he was not literally on the ballot, but it was his policies, like tariffs and the war in Iran, that voters linked to inflation and higher gas prices. And as Tam mentioned, his own vice president wrote yesterday that he thinks it was the war in Iran that cost Republicans the midterms.

Has Trump replied to that post?

So yes, he told us yesterday he talked to Vance. He mostly agreed with Vance, he said. Take a listen.

Well, I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term. And probably that's probably it's true. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I'd have to do it again.

So you hear him here blaming gas prices for costing Republicans the election, but not the war behind those high prices. And he doubled down on the Iran war yesterday. And as you just heard, he said if he had to do it again, he would.

So staying on Iran, a newly Democratic Congress will have far greater oversight of issues like funding for the war. How does that constrain Trump's agenda for his remaining two years in office?

He will be facing more legislative gridlock. As my colleague Sam just said, he's calling himself Mr. Veto. He said he'll veto legislation from Democrats that's brought to him. But Democrats could wield their funding power more, you know, appropriations power more strictly for issues like funding for immigration crackdowns or this ongoing war in Iran. Trump is going to be slightly less constrained on foreign policy, so think issues like Ukraine or his hostility towards NATO or, in two weeks, his upcoming visit to China.

That's NPR's Emily Fang. Thank you, Emily.

Thank you.

And that's Up First for Thursday, November 5. I'm Leila Fadil.

And I'm Amy Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslow, Megan Pratts, Rebecca Metzler, Mohamed El-Bardisi, and Alice Wolfeley. It was produced by Ziad Buch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Haines and Patrick Murray. Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. Join us again tomorrow.