Trump's 'veto everything' threat puts funding, debt limit in spotlight

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s threat to veto everything that a possibly Democratic-run Congress might send him next year is igniting a debate in the opposition party as it contemplates a legislative agenda in a divided Washington.

The Republican president, who has spent his 11 years in national politics touting deal-making chops he contends are rooted in his business and real estate career, revealed Friday he views his veto pen as leverage. But that does not mean it would automatically overcome his lame-duck status.

In the event Congress does not address the debt limit in the lame duck-session, if both chambers flip and Trump’s gambit doesn’t cause Democrats to fold, the government could shut down again and the country could breach its debt limit.

Asked Friday as he departed the White House for a campaign rally in Florida about how he would work with a Congress under Democratic control, Trump said he would try vetoing Democrats into submission, predicting that its leaders would get desperate and seek deals.

“What happens is I veto everything, and then the Democrats come and they want to make a deal. So we’ll work on that. I mean, if you look, historically, when you have a situation where that would happen, if it happens, you veto, veto, veto, and then they come and they say, ‘How do we get it done?’ And you make a deal,” he told reporters as he left the White House for a campaign rally in Florida.

The president stopped short, again, of predicting a big night for Republicans on Nov. 3, saying Friday his party could retain control of the chambers “if I can get my voters out.”

With eight days to go before Election Day, Trump has shifted the blame game — onto those same supporters. On Sunday in Port Huron, Mich., he told rallygoers they would have no one else to blame — including him — if Democrats prevailed next week.

“All of this, if they win, will be all this junk,” he said of his second administration’s policies. “Open borders, men in women’s sports, transgender for everybody, it’s all gonna be put right back in as soon as they win. They win, you got it right back.

“So it’s you, you will only have yourselves to blame,” Trump said. “And I don’t think there’s any coming back from that, either.”

Democratic candidates largely have run on an anti-Trump platform, while vowing to block his agenda during his final two years. Some have made promises about lowering the cost of gasoline, diesel, groceries and more.

Divided Dems

Trump’s veto bonanza threat already has created fissures among Democrats about their legislative agenda, should they take the gavels in both chambers.

Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat who is expected to take a bigger leadership role in the 120th Congress when it’s seated on Jan. 3, said last week that his party should realize Trump’s lame-duck years likely would not mean a sudden flurry of bipartisanship in Washington.

“The question in a midterm (election) is: Have you had enough? Do you think that there should be a check against unified control of Washington D.C. among Republicans? And so, I think we should frame it that way as an institutional check against an out-of-control president,” he told CNN on Oct. 22. “And then, if we do take power, we should use our leverage to try to bring this (Iran) war to a conclusion and to reverse the Medicaid and SNAP cuts.” (The latter was a reference to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and cuts included in Republicans’ 2025 sweeping tax and spending law.)

“I do not think it is time to propose things that the president of the United States is guaranteed to veto. I think that is somewhat of a bit of wasted energy,” Schatz added. “And then, if we want to be more aspirational, if we want to make more bold policy changes, we’re going to have to take the presidency and both chambers — and that’s for 2028. Right now is about stabilizing the country itself and providing some check against … an out-of-control presidency and a corrupt presidency.”

But Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who has been mentioned as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, fired back by reposting a clip of Schatz’s comments with a clear message.

“Make him veto Medicare for All. Make him veto a $25 living wage. Make him veto free childcare. Make him veto Block the Bombs to Israel,” he wrote on X of Trump. “Make him veto zero aid to Israel. Make him veto free college. Make him veto erasing student loans. Make him veto taxes on billionaires.”

That was a much more aggressive approach than what Schatz prescribed for his party: “I think people want to see us do not everything, but a few things that will take the pain out of what they’re experiencing.”

Democratic strategist Jim Manley said Monday that Trump needs “two things” from Congress during his final years: a debt-ceiling increase and keeping the government open, adding, “He could care less about the farm bill, FISA going dark, etcetera.”

“Democrats should spend the next two years spending as little time as possible wondering how to negotiate with Trump. If the House flips, they should just send bills over to the Senate and see if they die,” he added in an email. “If Democrats flip the House and the Senate, then you are playing with real ammunition. Given the rules of the Senate, Democrats will have to negotiate with Republicans if they hope to get anything done. If a wildly unpopular president wants to veto popular legislation two years before the next presidential election, by all means go for it.”

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