Senate Dems can look forward to unlikely MAGA allies
· Axios
Senate Democrats could find some of their most surprising allies next Congress from the right wing of the Republican Party.
Why it matters: Senate Democrats are on track to need only four GOP votes to break filibusters next Congress. They could find those votes from a bloc of GOP senators with a shared appetite for taking on corporate power.
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- Enter Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).
- Each has already worked with Democrats, and their votes could put legislation over the top.
Who we're watching: Hawley has co-led multiple pieces of legislation with progressive star Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) this Congress.
- Hawley is often viewed as a loner in the GOP, pairing populist economics with hardcore culture war issues from abortion to transgender care to religious freedom.
- He's been scathing in his postelection critiques. "This Congress did not come and work for the people. This Congress came and worked for AI companies, and it worked for data centers, and it worked for big tech companies," he told reporters on Tuesday.
- He's scoping out areas for potential bipartisan deals: "You want to raise the minimum wage? I'm for that. You want to work to get gas prices down? I'm for that. I am open to anything to bring down the cost of health care," he said.
Zoom in: Watch the health care space, specifically undoing cuts passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and drug price controls.
- President Trump has specifically asked Congress to codify his most favored nations drug pricing deals, which could give Republicans an opening to work with Democrats.
- Hawley and moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were among the loudest GOP voices opposing the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act credits last year.
Zoom out: Social Security and tech safety issues could also be huge areas of unexpected bipartisan work.
- Over the summer, Warren and Moreno released a sweeping plan to "save Social Security."
- Warren and Banks have tag-teamed on numerous tech and AI safety bills, including a joint statement on Nvidia this week. Hawley is also a major critic of AI.
- Schmitt worked with Warren in 2024 and 2025 to challenge Big Tech's dominance of Pentagon AI contracts, and with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in July to crack down on search engine monopolies.
What to watch: While there will be fewer this Congress, Democrats will also have a club of more moderate Republicans they can try to pick up too.
- Murkowski, along with Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), will be top targets.