Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that Democrats winning majorities in Congress puts them within reach of overriding vetoes issued by President Donald Trump, and that Democrats are prepared to meet with the president either “the nice way” or “the hard way.”
In the video clip addressed to reporters after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which delivered victories to Democrats in the House and Senate, Ocasio-Cortez was asked what the party would do to pass legislation since President Trump promised to veto any bill that appears on his desk. She believes that Democrats have leverage.
“I think we can compel him in a couple of ways,” she said. “And with these majorities, we might be able to get some veto overrides, depending on what it is.”
“You’ve got 54 members of the United States Senate, and now we have 200, we’ll see, 250, 260 members of the United States House,” she continued. “We’re within striking distance of veto overrides.”
She believes that Trump has certain motives to cooperate.
“So we can do it the nice way, or we can do it the hard way, but I do think that this president does not want to be seen as unproductive and impotent for the next two years,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And I think we can give him an opportunity to work together on health care, wages and other ways that can deliver for the American people.”
The math is tough anyway. To override the veto, a supermajority is required in each chamber: 290 votes in the House and 67 in the Senate, assuming full membership.
At that moment, Democrats and two independents in their caucus held 54 Senate seats, with races in Alaska and Mississippi still to be decided. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 2,517 votes, according to the Monday update by the state Division of Elections; ranked-choice tabulation is not expected to start until Nov. 18. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom leads the Republican incumbent by 2,990 votes with about 98% of the vote counted, according to The Associated Press, which has not called the race.
If Democrats win both seats, the caucus of 56 will still be 11 votes short of the 67 required, which means at least 11 Republican senators should turn their backs on Trump.
In the House, projections show that Democrats will hold at least 250 seats, with several races remaining to be decided. Even at 260 seats, Democrats will still need about 30 Republicans to reach 290. The new majorities will be sworn in starting in January.
Trump has clearly shown he will use his veto powers actively. On election night, while results were being reported, he shared an image of a red hat bearing the word “VETO.” In an interview with Fox News, he stated that Democrats could send him 50 bills they are happy about, and he would send them back “with a nice stamp, veto.” Moreover, he has told some media that he would cooperate with Democrats and does not want to spend two years vetoing everything.
Only once has Congress managed to override a Trump veto: in January 2021, when Congress passed the annual defense policy bill over his objection in the last weeks of his first term. In January this year, the House failed to override his veto of two bipartisan bills: one funding a water pipeline in Colorado and the other concerning the Miccosukee Tribe in Florida, despite 35 Republicans and 24 Democrats voting to override.
Republicans have made it clear that they would try to resist the Democratic agenda. After the election, the Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota has declared that his party would continue to “stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism.”
Some analysts believe Trump’s veto threats would lose influence over time, and that vetoing popular bills could give Democrats a message to use in the 2028 election campaign.
The clip ends as a reporter turns to Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader, pointing out that “we had Senator Sanders come out today.” Schumer is expected to become the majority leader when Democrats elect the Senate leaders in early December, although several incoming senators have said they would not support him.
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