After their stinging losses in the November election, House and Senate Democrats are actively weighing ways to work with the Trump administration — a far cry from the resistance era of President-elect Donald Trump’s first term eight years ago.
Several Democrats told us they’re open to teaming up with Trump but made clear they’re picking and choosing their spots. Some potential areas of common ground Democrats listed include the border and immigration, economic issues and the so-called “DOGE” effort, which will aim to root out wasteful government spending.
And their bipartisan appetite has already been put to the test in the new Congress. Forty-eight House Democrats voted for The Laken Riley Act on Tuesday, 11 more than the number who voted for the measure last Congress. Still, the vast majority of House Democrats — 159 — opposed the legislation.
The bill, which gives ICE more authority to detain criminally accused undocumented immigrants, will begin the process of getting a Senate vote later this week.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said the uptick in support from his party reflects how Democrats are digesting the election results, noting immigration was “on the ballot” in November.
“I don’t think the American people want extremism, but they do want changes at the border,” he told us. “On some of these issues, we were to the left of the American people.”
A large chunk of the House Democrats who voted for the legislation hail from frontline districts, making their support partly an act of political protection. Across the Capitol, Democratic senators up for reelection in battleground states — such as Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan — are also expected to back the bill.
“We should pursue every opportunity around border security and immigration reform,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio.) said. “That’s number one, and number two is getting costs down.”
But some of the House Democrats who flipped their position represent safer blue districts, such as Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.).
Even progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she’s willing to work with the incoming Trump administration on bipartisan issues — as long as they’re consistent with her values.
“The reason why I think oftentimes Democrats occasionally lose elections is because we’re too reflexively anti-Republican, and that we don’t lean into an ambitious vision for working-class Americans strongly enough,” Ocasio-Cortez told us.
Another progressive, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), told us he’s eager to work with Trump’s team on the DOGE initiative. He’s already been in direct contact with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy about the effort.
Meanwhile, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) expressed skepticism about Trump following through on some campaign proposals that interested progressive Democrats, but indicated he was open to working with the administration too. Casar specifically cited Trump’s push to cap credit card interest — a plan backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“We’re here to support good policies like that,” Casar told us.
The leadership view. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is taking a cautious approach so far.
In his speech introducing Mike Johnson after the speaker vote, Jeffries said there’s an “opportunity to put down partisan swords.” Jeffries specifically name-checked bringing down the cost of living, fixing the broken immigration system and securing the border.
But Jeffries also added: “At the same time, we will push back against far-right extremism whenever necessary.”
Asked whether Johnson would be willing to work with Democrats, the speaker said Tuesday: “It can’t just be empty rhetoric. It’s got to be action.”
But Republicans are planning to address many of the areas that would be ripe for bipartisanship — such as border security or raising the cap on the state and local tax dedication — in a reconciliation package. In other words, they’re planning to cut Democrats out of the process entirely.
