If Trump Wants a Deal With Democrats, Here’s Where to Start

Black voters helped deliver one of the biggest political shifts in a generation in the 2026 midterm elections. In January, Democrats will control both chambers of Congress, and Black lawmakers will serve in a significant way in both. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is positioned to become the first Black Speaker of the House, senior Black lawmakers in the House are in line to chair powerful committees, and a record number of Black senators will be seated. There are also more Black governors holding office at the same time than ever before.

Although the Constitution bars President Donald Trump from a third term, and the election took away his party’s control of Congress, there are still ways for him to exert his influence until he leaves office. He still commands the military, runs the federal agencies, and holds the power of the veto. Overriding a veto takes two-thirds of both chambers: 290 House members and 67 senators. Democrats will fall short on their own, and Congress has overridden only 112 of about 2,600 vetoes in American history.

But a veto alone cannot write bills, fund them, or stop Congress from acting. Congress holds the power of the purse, and the government cannot remain open without spending bills that the president also needs. Committee chairs can hold hearings and issue subpoenas, while the Senate decides which judges and agency heads are confirmed.

If the president is willing to end his term with successful legislation that is a compromise between him and the Democrats, here is where he should start. Three reforms address the affordability concerns voters sent to Washington, and each could draw support across party lines.

Turn Trump Accounts Into Baby Bonds

The president’s children’s accounts give every child born through 2028 a $1,000 deposit. Congress should build on these accounts with larger deposits for children from lower-wealth families, so the accounts help to close the racial wealth gap rather than widening it.

Save Social Security By Lifting the Payroll Tax Ceiling

The retirement trust fund is projected to run short in 2032, triggering cuts of about 22 percent. Yet earnings above $184,500 escape the payroll tax. Asking the highest earners to pay the same rate as everyone else would protect benefits that so many Black retirees depend on.

End the War With Iran

About six in 10 voters said going to war was the wrong decision. The Pentagon puts its cost at over $47 billion, and soaring gas prices have hit working families hard. Ending the war would ease pain at the pump and stop the drain of public dollars into an unpopular conflict abroad.

Beyond that common ground, the Joint Center’s priorities for the 120th Congress include:

• Full employment, with federal investment that flows automatically to labor markets where Black unemployment runs high.
• A fair share for Black workers and businesses in AI, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.
• Enforceable community benefit agreements for AI data centers.
• First-generation homeownership through the Downpayment Toward Equity Act.
• A permanent, fully refundable Child Tax Credit.
• Tax fairness, starting with rolling back last year’s increase in the estate tax exemption to $15 million per person.

A veto can slow progress, but it cannot erase the Black political power voters built on election night. Now that power has to be used.

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad is president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies