Slams against Trump - this is how the Democrats can influence politics now

The Democrats' majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate is a sour defeat for President Donald Trump. According to Dag Blanck, senior professor of North American studies at Uppsala University, there are a number of issues that the Democrats are trying to influence now. Here are some examples:

● Tax cuts: Democrats will block more tax cuts.

● Tariffs: Democrats will block new attempts by the president to impose tariffs on various countries.

● Health insurance: Democrats will try to restore health insurance reforms within Obamacare, where parts have expired.

● Judges: Democrats will block appointments of conservative judges to the Supreme Court, federal courts and appeals courts.

- The party will certainly put forward several of these proposals even if they know there will be a veto from the president, says Dag Blanck.

Donald Trump himself has given mixed signals about whether he intends to cooperate with the Democrats. In an interview with the New York Times, he says that is the ambition. In an interview with Fox News, he says that the Democrats will present "absolutely insane proposals" and that he will veto them.

US expert Emma Ricknell, political scientist at Linnaeus University, also questions whether Trump will be able to compromise.

- We will possibly see a Donald Trump who has to compromise more. If he doesn't, it will of course be difficult for the Trump administration to push through its policy as it has done so far, she says and continues:

- But it has rarely been that way in practice.

For example, remember what it was like during the last two years of the Democrat Barack Obama's presidency between 2015 and 2017. Then it was the Republicans who had the majority in both houses of Congress and could block many proposals. In several speeches, Obama talked about "political gridlock" and described it as a pronounced Republican strategy.

A good example of an area where compromise has to be made is the budget. The upcoming negotiation will be long and difficult, Dag Blanck believes.

- You must have a budget law that tells you how much money the government has to spend. If you can't agree on parts of the federal government being shut down, what is called a government shutdown. It is a situation that is unsustainable in the long run, he says.

Another main concern for Donald Trump is likely to be upcoming critical investigations against him and his administration within the framework of the control function of Congress. Several committee hearings are expected to hold various representatives accountable.

- Democrats will certainly try to target Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. We will probably see a lot of controversy about them.

The House of Representatives also has the option of initiating new impeachment proceedings against the president. However, Dag Blanck is doubtful whether that will happen. The process takes place in several stages and to be convicted a two-thirds majority is required in a vote in the Senate. The Democrats won't get such a large majority.

- The big question is whether the Speaker and the Democrats in the House of Representatives will want to push the process further. Is it worth betting on an impeachment when you know there is not a sufficient majority in the Senate to impeach Trump? Maybe you choose to put your gunpowder on other resistance.