U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, had a message for President Donald Trump’s administration officials Tuesday night as Democrats claimed victory in the U.S. House and Senate:

“Lawyer up.”

Garcia is set to become chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Garcia said the committee, soon to be under Democratic control, will investigate Trump’s family members, immigration enforcement, corporate corruption and Jeffrey Epstein.

Newly elected Democratic members of Congress in Virginia, however, are taking a more nuanced approach. They said the immediate priority would be to work on lowering costs but that accountability was an important facet of the job.

“Something that the Republican-led Congress has not done is called up people from this administration and asked them tough questions, whether that’s the secretary of defense about issues surrounding the ongoing conflict with Iran, or any other cabinet official representing any other aspect of this administration,” said Rep.-elect Elaine Luria, who will represent the 2nd District.

Luria said she’s presumed to go back on the Armed Services Committee, where she previously served as vice chair before she was ousted by Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans.

“There’s a lot of oversight that needs to be done on the defense side as well,” she said.

Cayce Myers, a professor at the Virginia Tech School of Communication, said Democrats would need to weigh public appetite for investigations into the Trump administration while centering their platform around good governance and affordability as they look ahead to the 2028 presidential election.

Affordability was top of mind for voters this election, Myers said. People feel poorer over the past two years as a result of rising prices tied to initiatives from the Trump administration such as tariffs and the war in Iran.

“There is a movement, I think, within the larger political environment that we’re in about corruption and about accountability, so I can foresee oversight in those areas,” Myers said. “But Democrats have to be careful to walk on their own narrative of ’26 by turning this into some sort of retribution on Trump and the administration.”

Some of the legislative priorities espoused by Virginia Democrats and others include rolling back some of Trump’s policies, such as cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program contained in the federal spending bill H.R.1.

“We do know that President Trump has said he is going to use veto power,” Myers said. “There is always the opportunity for bipartisanship on micro issues — I’m not sure what those would be.”

Myers said Trump likely will pivot to relying heavily on executive orders and that he has expanded executive authority to pre-Watergate levels. So what can Democrats in Congress do?

“They certainly can leverage oversight and challenge his executive orders in courts, which they already do, to try to limit him,” he said. “But I think what we’ll see in the next two years is a lot of inaction and posturing. It’s just about the larger brand and narrative of the Democrats and how they want to leverage the next two years to set themselves up for ’28.”

Rep.-elect Shannon Taylor, who won in Virginia’s 1st District on Tuesday, also said accountability for the Trump administration was important.

“I will hold people accountable regardless of party affiliation for unlawful actions,” Taylor said. “That is something that is also important to people in the 1st Congressional District, but you have to make sure that we are taking care of the priorities that we talked about.

“We have lost trust and accountability in Washington, and that is part of that — there’s been no transparency about how this administration has been operating.”

Luria said she would support Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, in his bid for Speaker of the House. Jeffries has said that impeachment of Trump is not an immediate priority. Taylor did not yet have an answer to that.

“I haven’t even been sworn in yet,” Taylor said. “Right now I’m focused on the people who sent me there.”

A significant contingency of moderates from swing districts entering Congress could mean a less aggressive ideological or impeachment agenda, analysis from the New York Times found.

Myers said that in the 1st and 2nd Districts, military issues, as well as the rising costs of gas and groceries, played a major role, particularly for suburban voters who turned out in droves for this election.

“Those kitchen table issues play to a moderate audience and a moderate candidate,” Myers said. “I think that’s a blueprint for what you will see in ’28”

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