Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said he will use his position as chair of the Senate Finance Committee to reverse work requirements and Medicaid cuts passed by Republicans in 2025. These changes, set to take effect Jan. 1, require Medicaid enrollees between ages 19 and 64 to prove through monthly paperwork that they are employed, attending school, or volunteering at least 80 hours a month. Wyden said Democrats will also move to reinstate now-expired Affordable Care Act tax credits for Americans facing skyrocketing healthcare premiums.
Wyden, who will chair the Senate Finance Committee for the second time in a decade, said Republicans have used their majorities to take food and healthcare away from vulnerable people and handed the proceeds to corporate interests. He added that those days are over. Because President Donald Trump will still be in office, Democrats will need to convince him to sign their legislation or secure support from about a dozen Senate Republicans and as many as three dozen House Republicans to override a presidential veto.
To fund subsidies that would lower healthcare costs and expand access, Wyden proposed his Billionaires Income Tax, which would apply to taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets or more than $100 million in income for three consecutive years. He also said he would use the Finance Committee to investigate Trump’s attempts to get himself and his family members blanket immunity from tax audits in perpetuity and subpoena information from banks and the U.S. Treasury related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Wyden has been investigating major U.S. banks’ complicity in Epstein’s crimes for four years but has been unable to get the majority vote needed from Finance members to issue a subpoena for all Epstein-related Treasury records. He has served on the committee since 2014 and was last chair from 2021 through 2024. He is currently his party’s ranking member on the committee, which has been chaired by Idaho’s senior Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican, since 2025.
Wyden said he would continue to advocate for Medicare for All and is co-sponsoring legislation to expand the federal health insurance program currently available to Americans 65 and older. He noted that some of his colleagues are more in favor of a public option than Medicare for All and would work to bring both sides together to achieve the boldest system possible.
Wyden insisted that the work requirements passed by Republicans in their 2025 tax and spending cut megalaw would be reversed as quickly as possible. The requirements are also being challenged in court by Oregon’s and three other state attorneys general. Wyden, who will be the second most senior member of the U.S. Senate in January, said he would collaborate with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, to end tariffs, particularly on Canadian goods, that have hurt the Northwest’s economy.
