Politics
Wyden: Democrats to Target Medicaid Cuts, Tariffs as Senate Majority
Sen. Ron Wyden says Democrats will move immediately in January to reverse Medicaid cuts and extend health insurance subsidies, while also targeting Trump's tariffs and investigating banks tied to Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Democrats will use their new Senate majority to move quickly on reversing major healthcare cuts and halting President Trump's tariffs, setting up a high-stakes confrontation over the president's signature tax and spending law.
Wyden, a 30-year Senate veteran, will chair the powerful Senate Finance Committee in January after Democrats secured a 54-seat majority last week. The committee oversees taxation, tariffs and safety-net programs including Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP.
"My agenda is gonna be affordability for us and accountability for Republicans and special interests," Wyden told Oregon reporters Monday.
Democrats plan to introduce legislation "immediately" to restore more generous Affordable Care Act subsidies and lift a Medicaid work requirement that begins rolling out nationwide on Jan. 1 for some low-income adults. In Oregon, the work requirement applies to roughly 560,000 adults. It takes effect Jan. 1 for new enrollees and on a rolling basis for current Oregon Health Plan members at their next eligibility renewal.
Oregon also faces a $420 million deficit in its 2027-2029 biennial budget due to stricter federal funding rules.
"We're going to go after all those cuts and stop as many of them as we can at the beginning of the year," Wyden said.
He did not specify how Democrats would pay for restoring subsidies and expanding coverage, but floated raising the effective tax rate on ultra-wealthy individuals. The Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that extending the ACA subsidies for ten more years would cost $350 billion and cover 3.8 million more people.
Wyden also reaffirmed his support for a single-payer, "Medicare for All" system, while acknowledging other Democrats prefer a public option within the current employer-based framework.
On trade, Wyden said stopping Trump's tariffs would be a top priority. Oregon's economy depends heavily on global trade, which supports about one in four jobs statewide. Industries from heavy machinery to computer chips to apparel rely on imported parts, and major trading partners like Canada and Mexico purchase Oregon fertilizer, grains and semiconductors.
"We are going to stop Trump's tariffs that are so flawed and are basically just vehicles for crookery," Wyden said. "And we're also going to make an effort to end the tariffs with Canada because that's damaging to both sides."
The Supreme Court struck down some of the administration's most punishing tariffs in early 2026, but several import taxes remain in effect.
Wyden also said he plans to use the committee's subpoena power to investigate banks that may have enabled Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender. He argued that financial institutions could have stopped Epstein years earlier by following existing laws.
"If the Wall Street banks had done nothing except follow the existing laws â no changes, just the existing laws â we could have stopped Epstein years and years earlier," he said. "They knew what was going on."
Overhauling H.R. 1, the tax and spending law Trump has championed, remains a tall order and could face a presidential veto. But with the gavel in hand, Wyden and Senate Democrats are signaling they intend to force the fight early in the new Congress.