Some Democrats Want to Dare Trump to Veto Their Big Priorities

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Some Democrats are weighing an unusual tactic that would let them pass their key priorities next year without Republican votes and test President Donald Trump’s veto threat.

Incoming committee leaders are considering the byzantine reconciliation process, which Republicans used twice this Congress to pass partisan budget packages. The procedure is rarely used in times of divided government.

The tool would take advantage of Democrats’ new majorities in both the House and Senate. Their resounding win last week fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass most bills in the Senate, but has nonetheless supercharged their appetite to pursue an ambitious fiscal policy agenda.

“It’s likely that we will do one,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a senior member of the Budget Committee. “We can do something that will be attractive to him to sign or hurt him and his colleagues badly if he vetoes it.”

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Advocates for a party-line budget bill include Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is expected to lead the Senate’s health and labor committee. He has called for passing “bold legislation within the first 100 days” that would include “raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour, passing Medicaid for all, passing wealth tax on billionaires, and addressing the need for safeguards on AI.” It’s unclear how many of those policies would pass muster with Senate rules, which only allow budgetary provisions to be passed under reconciliation.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who’s expected to lead the Finance Committee, is weighing using the partisan process to expand Medicare access.

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