We’ve all had time to bask in the afterglow of the blue tsunami. How exhilarating! It proved that 250 years after America’s first revolution, we had the will and gumption to revolt again.

 

Now, the newly elected Democrats who will control Congress must justify the  overwhelming mandate they received. They have to begin laying the groundwork for accomplishing their goals so they can hit the ground running when they’re sworn in on Jan. 4.

 

Have you thought about what the priorities of the new Congress should be? I have. To borrow a line from Fareed Zakaria, ‘Here’s my take,’ in no particular order and worth exactly what you’ve paid to read it.  

• End the arrest, detention and deportation of non-violent immigrants by ICE and free those who have been detained. If this can’t happen before Jan. 4, it should be on the House’s agenda that day.

• End the Iran war. This will probably involve defunding it, which will cause Republican hawks to blow a gasket, but it has to be done. No more killing on the new Congress’s watch. 
• Halt, at least temporarily, construction of new data centers. If Congress lacks the power to do it outright, it should create incentives for states to do it. Construction should be paused, not permanently stopped. Congress should also establish a commission to study and recommend policy for regulating AI. Other sectors of America’s economy that directly affect our lives are regulated — health care, financial services and utilities, for example. Why not AI?
• Revoke all Trump’s tariffs; yank back the power to impose tariffs from the executive branch and return it to Congress where it belongs. 
• Reverse the parts of the Big Beautiful Bill that increased the cost of health insurance for millions who rely on the Affordable Care Act market. This is complex and will cost money but the new Congress must bring relief to millions of low and middle income households and to documented immigrants. 
• Make our support for Ukraine unequivocal and take immediate action to help its courageous people thwart Putin’s aggression, as our European allies have done. 
• Lower the cost of living. It’s imperative that Democrats take steps to make life more affordable for low- and middle-income Americans. Affordability was the promise that most Democrats ran on. Some of the things listed above would be a good start: reforming immigration laws, ending the Iran war, revoking tariffs, undoing the inequities in the Big Beautiful Bill. 

 

OK, you may have noticed that I didn’t mention impeaching anyone or investigating the rampant corruption of Trump’s family and the insiders in his administration. Yes, the new Congress must disinfect the rot we’ve seen under Trump 2, and it can by walking and chewing gum at the same time. At the same time that the House Oversight Committee investigates how the intrepid traveling duo — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner —  enriched themselves while failing miserably at diplomacy, the House Subcommittee on Health can deal with the crisis of citizens who lack health insurance, and the Homeland Security Committee can straighten out ICE. And that is but one example.

 

Well-meaning Democrats may argue that investigations of the Trump mafia will be divisive, that the country needs healing, that the wounds must be bound up with malice toward none. That pusillanimous argument ignores the fact that about 90 percent of voters listed corruption as their top concern. Shining a light on corruption will unite the country more than divide it. 

 

Some of the Democrats who oppose oversight investigations are the same ones who warned that Democratic Socialists, my party, would give the Republicans the stick they needed to beat us with. That proved to be wildly off the mark. Republicans can try to make socialism synonymous with state communism but only their MAGA base buys that. Others can smell the BS from way off. 

 

The new Democrat-controlled Congress must reward its supporters by getting shit done! Sorry, there’s no clearer way to say it. Trump and his toadies served up issues on a platter: ICE cruelty, a pointless war at the behest of Bibi Netanyahu, massive exposure to AI and data centers, tariff mayhem, and betraying Ukraine to suck up to Putin. All these, plus healthcare, must be tackled openly and defiantly starting now. 

 

As the new Congress gets down to work, let’s pray that a couple or three standouts emerge as obvious leaders for 2028. We have the issues and we have new exciting leaders. We’ll need to coalesce around a handful of potential presidential nominees. And please let the younger Dems, especially the females, do their share of the leading. Seniority be damned.

 

Finally, I’d like to see the new Congress do a couple of things that you might think of as gestures toward civility.  Though it would only be symbolic, I would love to see someone put forward a resolution declaring our friendship and love for Canada. Let the House and Senate vote on it. O Canada! 

 

And, while we’re righting some wrongs, how about a resolution from both houses apologizing for the racist cruelty inflicted on 300,000 legal Haitian immigrants?

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