The new battle for Congress: Trump's veto
Responding to an image of Trump's "VETO" hat Thursday, Sen.
Key points
- The new Democratic majority in Congress should pass bills to make life more affordable and our government less corrupt." But doing so will still require coalition-building on the Hill, says Jonathan Lewallen, an associate professor at the University of Tampa who has studied policy agenda-setting and veto threats.
- Yes, but: While Trump could use veto threats to force lawmakers to negotiate or to halt legislation altogether, vetoing popular measures could benefit Democrats' messaging for 2028, when a potential trifecta in all three branches of government would let them enact their agenda with little interference.
- Democrats will charge into January with a sweeping mandate — but as President Trump has repeatedly noted, his veto power can deliver a robust roadblock to his opponents' agenda.
Yes, but: "There may come a point in the next two years where Trump is still issuing lots of veto threats and potentially even vetoing the occasional bill, and it just becomes less effective as a strategy," Lewallen says.
That means the administration might instead use another tactic with legislation they disagree with: quietly letting them become law automatically after 10 days without Trump's signature.
Additional details
- Neither majority will be large enough to cross the two-thirds threshold Democrats would need to override a presidential veto on their own.
- On Tuesday night, as election results rolled in, Trump posted an image of a red MAGA-esque hat that read "VETO" in all caps.
- The bottom line: Reversing Trump's agenda from Capitol Hill isn't expected to be smooth sailing.
- He highlights two key issue areas where Trump has already threatened vetoes in the first half of his administration that Democrats have pledged to tackle: defense policy and consumer protection.
- State of play: Democrats have secured 54 seats in the upcoming Senate, per the AP's projections, and are leading in two tight races in Mississippi and Alaska that have yet to be called.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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