Democrats see voters’ mandate to cut costs, but they’re still figuring out how to deal with the Trump factor

Democrats received the message loud and clear from the midterm elections that Americans want results, not “superficial litmus tests,” as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a conference in Denver this week. But it was clear that Democrats, meeting at a summit on the way forward as they control of the House And Senate next year, we’re still thinking about how to get these results while President Trump is still in the White House.

Shapiro helped Democrats flip four House seats in his state, and he spoke after an election that gave Democrats decisive majorities in the Senate and House. He said voters had rejected “chaos” and “corruption” and were demanding results-oriented governance. Shapiro urged congressional Democrats to focus on cutting costs, building affordable housing, protecting consumers and expanding economic opportunity — not ideological fights.

The Pennsylvania governor, who has been discussed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, focused on domestic issues, arguing that voters’ “early term” called for aggressive action on antitrust, AIinnovation and economic equity. He advised Democrats to use their majority to deliver a stronger “American bargain” for working families.

While some newly elected Democrats, like Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas, are optimistic about the new Congress’s ability to work with the Trump administration, others, including New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, have encouraged new members of Congress to be pragmatic in their approach to making deals with Mr. Trump.

In his remarks Thursday, Talarico, who won his seat in a heavily Republican state, said Democrats “must” work with President Trump because “the American people cannot wait two years for change.”

“We should make the last two years of his presidency the most productive of any presidency in American history,” Talarico said.

But Sherrill suggested that might be harder than it seems.

“The art of making a deal with Trump is that he finds out what you want. He exploits what you know what in you and keeps taking, taking, taking and never keeps his promises. He doesn’t follow through on his commitments,” Sherrill said of her experience working with him as governor of New Jersey.

She called on Democrats to take the power they have amassed this election cycle and use it to their advantage.

“My advice to Senator Talarico is if Trump wants to work with us, we will set the agenda and he can sign it,” Sherrill said.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who won the governorship in 2025, the same year as Sherrill, agreed that trying to make deals with Mr. Trump could be futile.

“It’s insane to think that if you ever make a deal, if you ever give something, if you give an inch to the president, there’s no reason to believe — he has no track record of implementation — that if you make a deal with President Trump that he will ever honor it,” Spanberger said.

Spanberger, who represented Virginia in the House before she was elected governor, gave this advice to next year’s Democratic Congress: “Congress should pass bill after bill after bill that is broadly, very clearly popular, and that addresses what people across the country campaigned on, and send it to the president’s desk.” No pre-negotiations, no discussions. Eventually, he will want to have a signing ceremony. And eventually, he could sign a few. people say, look at these bills that passed the House, passed the Senate, the president took no action. »

Despite the celebratory mood in Denver, Democratic officials repeatedly sent a message that they understood that last week’s victories do not represent a long-term realignment, and there is no guarantee that voters who supported them will continue to do so.

“This is not a blank check,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona. “On the contrary, it is a short-term loan that we must continue to repay – otherwise we will lose it.”