> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.marxistunity.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Democrats Win Congress, But What Should Socialists Do? - URL: https://www.marxistunity.com/the-democrats-win-congress-but-what-should-socialists-do/ - Published: 2026-11-13T16:52:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-13T16:58:02.000Z - Description: After last week's sweeping victories, eight DSA members will take federal office. They must agitate for our programmatic demands and expose constitutional obstacles to power. - Author: Alexander V. - Tags: U.S. Politics After last Tuesday's sweeping victory, the Democrats have won a majority in both chambers of Congress. DSA now has eight amazing cadre members in Washington: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Angela Gonzales-Torres, Chris Rabb, Claire Valdez, Darializa Ávila Chevalier, Donavan McKinney, Melat Kiros, and Rashida Tlaib. Trumpism has suffered a major blow. But none of the hard questions have been resolved. What should we expect from Democrats in their fight against President Trump for the last two years of his term? What should DSA cadre candidates do as a minority in Congress but a popular force in the public eye? Most importantly, how can we continue to agitate for DSA’s programmatic demands, including working-class power through a democratic constitution? It was a historic night for the Democrats, who flipped both chambers of Congress by margins not seen since the election of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama or the Republican Revolution of 1994\. The results are a damning rejection of the Trump administration’s policies, including Gestapo-like attacks on civilians and the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Democrats have been handed a mandate from millions of people to provide a tangible alternative to Trumpism. Many want them to go after the administration’s blatant corruption and end the war in Iran. Can these expectations be met? Or will Democrats talk the talk, but not walk the walk? Meanwhile, for DSA, the challenge is not simply to push Democrats forward. It is to establish an independent socialist bloc capable of exposing the limitations of the existing political system and organizing working people to overcome them. ### Bark But No Bite The last time Democrats won a major congressional victory against Trump was in the 2018 midterms. The new House majority quickly launched several investigations into the administration, including alleged [Russian interference](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-mueller-decries-russias-election-interference?ref=marxistunity.com) in the 2016 presidential elections. Yet, in retrospect, many of these investigations produced [little lasting change](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/house-investigations-trump-his-administration-full-list-n1010131?ref=marxistunity.com). Democrats ultimately spent more time investigating Trump than they did trying to pass legislation—and they did so while saying nothing about the undemocratic political system that hampered their efforts. There were some consequential actions. Trump was impeached twice: [first](https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/801429948/not-guilty-trump-acquitted-on-2-articles-of-impeachment-as-historic-trial-closes?ref=marxistunity.com) for his quid pro quo conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to garner help with the 2020 election, [and again](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/majority-of-house-members-vote-for-2nd-impeachment-of-trump?ref=marxistunity.com) for inciting the Capitol riot on January 6\. Trump was acquitted in both cases. The second impeachment received fifty-seven votes for conviction, well short of the two-thirds majority required in the Senate. The new Democratic congressional majority will [likely begin](https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/democrats-oversight-judiciary-corporate-investigations?ref=marxistunity.com) new investigations into the Trump administration, including a possible [impeachment](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-faces-prospect-of-impeachment-if-democrats-gain-control?ref=marxistunity.com) vote. They will also likely take action against [Secretary of War Pete Hegseth](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4g1nwx39wno?ref=marxistunity.com) and officials involved with ICE, which the administration has used to [terrorize and kill](https://www.marxistunity.com/to-steal-an-election-the-war-on-mail-in-voting/) Trump’s opponents. But success is unlikely, again due to the [onerous conditions for impeachment](https://www.marxistunity.com/the-revolutionary-road-to-democracy/), which allow just thirty-four senators from seventeen states representing less than 8% of the population to acquit. No resident has been removed via this process—not the arch-racist Andrew Johnson, the lying Richard Nixon, or Donald Trump, who embodies the worst of both. Voters want the Democrats to investigate the Trump administration. They also want Congress to pass laws. Given that the President [wields a veto](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/11/01/trump-says-he-may-become-mr-veto-if-democrats-win-control-of-congress/?ref=marxistunity.com), we can expect one of two courses of action from the Democratic-controlled Congress. First, it could push the agenda with bills like Medicare for All, the PRO Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, or the Fair Representation Act. These bills would meet the demands of most Americans and emphasize the undemocratic structure of our political system. But this is not very likely. Instead, Democrats will probably strike deals with the Republicans to avoid a veto and make it through the Senate. If they do push the agenda, it will be with an eye toward 2029—when, presumably with a Democrat in the Oval Office, they would have the power to more easily legislate. That’s still a few years away. For now, it’s unclear whether the Democrats have any [ambitious policy goals](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/heres-whats-on-house-democrats-agenda-if-they-sweep-to-power-in-midterm-elections?ref=marxistunity.com) beyond reversing recent attacks on welfare programs by reinstating health care tax credits for the [ACA](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/heres-whats-on-house-democrats-agenda-if-they-sweep-to-power-in-midterm-elections?ref=marxistunity.com) and reversing Medicaid cuts. Maybe a move to rein in Trump’s war against Iran is also in the works. Whatever happens, so long as it's led by the Democratic Party and forced to maneuver through the Constitution, we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Bipartisanship is over, and Trump will use every power gifted to him by the Framers to block the popular will—and that’s to say nothing of the Supreme Court, which, thanks to lifetime terms in office, will be dominated by conservative justices for the next several decades. This is where our cadre members can make important interventions. Done correctly and in cooperation, their work can go a long way toward exposing the undemocratic nature of our current political system and putting forward the alternative presented in DSA’s program, [Workers Deserve More](https://program.dsausa.org/?ref=marxistunity.com). ### Push the Agenda DSA cadre members in federal office (Federal Socialists in Office, or FSIOs) should immediately push the agenda by co-sponsoring [Medicare for All](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3069/cosponsors?ref=marxistunity.com), the [Green New Deal](https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-releases/ocasio-cortez-sanders-ramirez-reintroduce-green-new-deal-public-housing-act-1?ref=marxistunity.com), the [AI Data Center Moratorium Act](https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-releases/ocasio-cortez-introduces-house-version-ai-data-center-moratorium-act?ref=marxistunity.com), and all of the other laws previously mentioned. But we should not expect these initiatives to succeed. Our electeds are a minority within the Democratic Party and will be attacked from all sides, including by their party’s leadership. Our FSIOs should use this opposition to their advantage. They should agitate about the undemocratic nature of our current political system, identifying the Constitution as the reason why the majority of Americans struggle while the capitalist class thrives. They should also expose the duplicitous and conniving Democratic Party establishment, which will fight tooth and nail against universal and equal rights. They should make all of this known! Through the legislative bully pulpit, our FSIOs can address the American people, exposing institutional hurdles that impede their ability to serve their constituencies. Taking this agitational approach would make these members true [tribunes of the people](https://cosmonautmag.com/2021/07/tribunes-of-the-people/?ref=marxistunity.com). Despite these institutional hurdles, FSIOs will still have some space to present a socialist legislative agenda in their respective committees and on the floor. In true tribune style, they should use this opportunity to agitate for everything in [Workers Deserve More](https://program.dsausa.org/?ref=marxistunity.com)! Some parts of our program have cross-party support from progressive democrats, including Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. But as socialists, our horizon encompasses the entire program. DSA electeds should also put forward new labor laws. They should seek the repeal of anti-unionisation laws, specifically the Taft-Hartley Act—a win that would go further than the PRO Act. Our FSIOs should also form an [independent socialist caucus.](https://jacobin.com/2026/11/democratic-party-congress-socialist-caucus-dsa?ref=marxistunity.com) This organization would help all current and future FSIOs strategize, organize internally, and better serve as tribunes of the people. Without an independent caucus, the socialist movement would suffer greatly and risk falling into [parliamentary cretinism](https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch05.htm?ref=marxistunity.com). We cannot take this route. Our FSIOs must remain accountable to the organization and continually prove that they know what it means to represent DSA and the broader socialist movement. As [Wilhelm Liebknecht](https://www.marxists.org/archive/liebknecht-w/revolt/2-parliament-agitation.html?ref=marxistunity.com) said, “let us use \[these\] elections only as a means of agitation, and let us not neglect to point out that the ballot-box can never be the cradle of the democratic state.” ### Toward the Socialist Horizon The Democrats have scored their biggest electoral victory since Obama entered the White House almost two decades ago. But nothing has fundamentally changed. Fed by their capitalist donors, the mainstream of the Democratic Party is just as hostile to democracy and socialism as ever. It is up to DSA and our FSIOs to use Workers Deserve More and ceaselessly explain how the undemocratic nature of our political and economic system—including, first and foremost, the Constitution—stifles our ability to pass popular laws. The midterms have shown that people want change, that [socialism](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/us/elections/socialism-americans-polls-election-politics.html?ref=marxistunity.com) is on [the rise](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls?ref=marxistunity.com), and that [the demands](https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/current-and-historical-public-opinion-on-medicare-for-all-and-other-national-health-plan-proposals/?ref=marxistunity.com) in Workers Deserve More are popular. DSA must spread the good news and keep moving toward the socialist horizon. Light & Air / Marxist Unity Group Liked what you read? 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