As I exited my office in downtown Chicago on Election Day, I had to excuse myself to pass through since there was a line of people in front. The line stretched from Wabash Avenue to Monroe Street, on to State Street and all the way to Adams Street.

These were people patiently waiting to vote. This was how I knew a blue wave was coming. In a city and state long known for being Democratic strongholds, Americans were taking time out of their busy workday to vote. They were not going to take anything for granted, even in a blue city and a blue state. They were going to make sure their message of rage and dissatisfaction was heard.

Now that historic victories across the country have come, there is a danger — and I’m not talking about a reaction similar to Jan. 6. It is the fear of Democrats losing time and momentum to take America forward by instead pushing an agenda of impeachments and investigations.

Social media platforms, in particular, are rife with expressions of schadenfreude. A number of Democrats and their supporters, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum, are glorifying the revenge they will exact once officially in power. To be specific, there is talk of investigations of President Donald Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others in the current administration for the damage they have done to the country in less than two years.

However, this is a trap. Holding the guilty accountable is necessary. But it cannot be the primary focus of what Democrats must do — which is to get America out of the mess we are in at the moment.

Democrats need to keep the American people in focus and pass their own version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. What does that look like?

It looks like this: taking big money out of politics so citizens have more say than corporations, enacting real immigration reform instead of hunting working people on the streets of America, and regulating artificial intelligence while ensuring America’s leading edge is not diminished. We also definitely need science back on the policy tables of Washington, D.C.

Also, the bill must ensure that we divert war funds to save lives around the world by restoring the U.S. Agency for International Development while rebuilding the international legal framework. And no bill will be beautiful unless it guarantees healthcare for all.

Politics is the art of compromise. So the Democratic version of a “big fat beautiful bill” may not be exactly what I and other citizens might imagine. But we must start by accepting that a policy of vengeance will not benefit our nation.

Democrats have been handed a mandate to work for the betterment of the entire country. It is not enough that last Tuesday’s vote, which has been called a rebuke of Trump, remains just a rebuke. This vote is a responsibility and a trust in Democrats to put leadership in action to make life better for all.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani understood this from the start and took it to heart. Once in power, he avoided confrontation with Trump, and the president reciprocated in kind. Instead of wasting his time mudslinging with Trump, who relishes playing dirty, Mamdani kept the people of New York City front and center.

If Democrats deliver for people, they will be handsomely rewarded in 2028. If they devote more energy to investigations and impeachments, not only may they lose, but America will also fail to move forward.

Holding power to account is necessary. However, it cannot distract from the key promise made to Americans last Tuesday. Let the work begin.

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Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is the executive producer for Muslim Network Television and an emeritus chair of the Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago.

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