Oregon’s top U.S. senator and Democrats, who hold a new congressional majority in January, will immediately attempt to reverse the work requirements and Medicaid cuts passed by congressional Republicans in 2025 and set to take effect Jan. 1.
When the new Congress begins in January, Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, will for the second time in a decade become chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the powerful panel responsible for tax, trade, revenue and health policy.
At a news conference Monday morning, Wyden said Democrats would also immediately pass legislation to reinstate the now-expired Affordable Care Act tax credits for Americans who have seen their health care premiums skyrocket.
“Over the past two years, Republicans have used their majority to take away food and health care from vulnerable people and funneled the profits to the people at the top and corporate interests,” he said. “They have completely abandoned the oversight responsibilities of Congress, and I can tell you those days are over.”
Since President Donald Trump will still be in office, Democrats in the House and Senate will either have to convince him to sign their legislation or secure the support of a dozen Senate Republicans and three dozen House Republicans to reach a two-thirds majority and override a presidential veto.
To fund subsidies that would lower health care costs and expand access, Wyden says he will repropose his billionaires income tax that would apply to taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets or more than $100 million in income for three consecutive years.
He also said he would use the Finance Committee to investigate Trump’s attempts to get himself and his family members full immunity from tax audits in perpetuity and to subpoena information from banks and the U.S. Treasury regarding the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Wyden has been investigating the complicity of major U.S. banks in Epstein’s crimes for four years, but since 2025 he has been unable to obtain the majority of votes needed from Finance members to issue a subpoena for all Treasury files related to Epstein.
Wyden has served on the committee since 2014 and was last chair from 2021 to 2024. He is currently his party’s ranking member on the committee, which has been chaired since 2025 by Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo.
Beyond reversing Republican cuts, Wyden said he would continue to advocate for Medicare for All and co-sponsor legislation that would expand the federal health insurance program currently available only to Americans 65 and older.
“Now I can tell you that some of my colleagues are more supportive of a public option than they are of Medicare for All. It will be my job, if I’m the point person for Democrats on the Finance Committee, to bring the two parties together to get the boldest system possible, the boldest system that has the broadest coverage and the most aggressive cost containment,” he said.
Wyden insisted that the work requirements that Republicans adopted in their 2025 tax-and-spending mega-law would be rolled back “as quickly as possible.”
Those requirements — that Medicaid enrollees between the ages of 19 and 64 prove through monthly documentation that they are employed, attend school or volunteer at least 80 hours per month — are set to take effect Jan. 1 and are also being challenged in court by the attorneys general of Oregon and three other states.
In January, Wyden will be the second-longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, after 1996. He is second only to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who has served since 1993.
Wyden said the two men would immediately work together to end tariffs, particularly on Canadian goods, that have hurt the Northwest economy. He would not say whether he supports a change in leadership in the Senate, including for current Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“There will be a time to talk about politics, appointments, etc., but I don’t talk about that and never have,” he said.
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