House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-NY) surprise private meeting with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, offered an early glimpse into potential dynamics between Congress and the White House if Democrats win the House and highlighted which issues the two parties might be willing to compromise on.
Democrats need to flip just three seats to regain control of the House, and they have history on their side as the party in power typically loses seats during midterm elections. Republicans, however, came out ahead during several mid-decade redistricting pursuits across the country, giving them a boost as they try to defy history.
Jeffries is in line to become the next House speaker if Democrats prevail during the midterm elections, but his overtures with Kushner have angered left-wing advocates who want the New York Democrat to focus on limiting Trump’s power in the second half of his administration.
“Hakeem jeffries meeting kushner privately is a worse signal than him meeting the president publicly,” Hasan Piker, a left-wing commentator and streamer, wrote on social media.
House Democrats appear to have little appetite for instigating another Trump impeachment trial, but some, such as Rep. Al Green (D-TX), recently introduced articles of impeachment against the president.
Outside of agitators such as Piker, both parties recognize that some form of working across the aisle will be needed if Democrats gain control of either branch of Congress. Even Democrats not in Congress recognize the importance of trying to find common issues to work with Republicans on. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Trump in Washington at least twice to discuss housing, affordability, and city projects.
The two men discussed housing, immigration, and the cost of living as areas where the two parties could find common ground, according to the New York Times.
Here are some of the most pressing issues that the two parties could work on.
Improving healthcare credits
Jeffries scored a major victory last year when he forced a vote on a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies, which passed the House thanks to GOP support. The bill has stalled in the Senate.
“It’d be a big whiff for the White House not to work with Leader Jeffries on reviving healthcare tax credits,” former Biden White House aide Robyn Patterson told the Washington Examiner. “Vulnerable Republicans are getting absolutely hammered with ads on high healthcare costs. A deal would let Jeffries deliver on a major campaign promise and give Republicans something to say on affordability. If November ends up being a reckoning on the high cost of living, lowering healthcare costs is the lowest-hanging fruit for making life easier for everyday folks.”
A KFF health-tracking poll last month showed costs topped the list of healthcare priorities for voters. More than half of all voters, including 60% of Democratic and 55% independent voters, said the issue is extremely important for candidates to talk about.
Winning over angry MAHA voters
Both parties could come together to work on issues important to the Make America Healthy Again movement, led by supporters of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Members of the MAHA movement have grown weary of the Trump administration over a lack of prioritization of their concerns, particularly on harmful ingredients in everyday products.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) previously introduced legislation to limit domestic production of glyphosate, a controversial weed killer that MAHA has allied against. Trump signed an executive order in February enabling the Defense Production Act to prioritize glyphosate, to the ire of MAHA.
Booker, a 2028 hopeful, has already begun to push fellow Democrats to appeal to MAHA voters.
“We should be telling those loving moms and dads that they are right, right about the chemicals, right about the ultra-processed foods, right about the chronic disease, right that something in America is profoundly broken,” Booker said earlier this year at the Center for American Progress’s ideas conference, a gathering of liberal wonks, in Washington.
MAHA already flexed its political muscle on the campaign trail this year by elevating businessman Zach Lahn over Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA), whom Trump backed, in the Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary. A bipartisan effort to address their issues could intensify efforts to win their voters before the 2028 race.
Building on data center backlash
The growing backlash to the expansion of AI data centers could become another key issue for both parties to tackle. Govs. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Josh Shapiro (D-PA) have taken action to limit the spread of data centers, indicating just how bipartisan the battle against them is becoming. Congressional leaders could come together to focus on federal legislation that would regulate the industry.
However, Trump has indicated that lawmakers are “making a mistake” by attempting to limit data centers.
“Frankly, communities that don’t take a data center, they’re making a mistake because there’s plenty of communities that want them,” Trump said during a podcast taping of When You Know You Know, hosted by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. “Because it means jobs, and it means tremendous tax revenue coming into the towns and cities that take them.”
But Republicans are concerned about the electoral vulnerability data centers may present. The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that Democratic attacks against data centers are working against Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH).
A heavy midterm loss for Republicans in November could prompt more GOP leaders to buck Trump to rein in data centers.
“If he loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one,” the memo warns.
Trump said last week that Republican candidates did not need to align with him on data centers, despite his support.
Championing pro-family investment accounts
Democrats have also conceded that they are willing to get on board with the administration’s pro-family efforts. Trump repeatedly champions the success of investment accounts meant to help children transition to adulthood with a sizable account to withdraw from.
The Trump accounts are available to any child under 18 with a Social Security number. Every eligible child born between January 2025 and December 2028 has received or will receive a $1,000 contribution from the Treasury. The first lady launched the “Fostering the Future” savings account initiative with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in June. At age 18, the child is able to withdraw funds from the account without any penalty to pay for college, buy a home, or start a business.
Trump claimed during a Rose Garden event on Monday that the Trump accounts were “being talked about all over the world. It’s very good and very hot.”
His rivals have agreed with him on the issue.
The president and first lady’s efforts to create investment accounts for children and foster youth are “one of the best things” Trump has done, said Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), a frequent Trump foe and potential 2028 candidate.
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), another rumored 2028 hopeful, said of the accounts, “This is actually a smart policy,” on an episode of The Clay Cane Show last month.
JEFFRIES AND KUSHNER MEET IN PRIVATE AS DEMOCRATS EYE HOUSE CONTROL
Comments from Democrats suggest they could continue the program even after Trump leaves office in 2029.
“I’m enthusiastic about encouraging people to get a Trump account,” Newsom said about the initiative during a recent news conference in San Francisco.