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After Failed Effort by Billionaires Like Elon Musk to Buy 2026 Midterms, Call Grows for Federal Wealth Tax
“It is essential that we show the American people where we stand,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen. “If Trump vetoes it, it will just show people that he’s on the side of billionaires.”
Nov 05, 2026
With tech mogul Elon Musk pouring nearly half a billion dollars into the midterm elections and just 20 individuals spending over $2 billion in an effort to elect Republicans who would continue President Donald Trump's corporate-friendly MAGA agenda, the results—including at least seven US Senate seats, 30 US House seats, and five governorships taken over by Democrats—sent a resounding message to GOP megadonors.
But economic justice advocates on Thursday said the Democratic Party must not stop there, demanding that the party's new majorities take immediate action after the new Congress is sworn in in January to pass a federal wealth tax—the kind that was central to campaigns including those of Sens.-elect Troy Jackson (D-Maine), James Talarico (D-Texas), and Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.).
“This election was a referendum on who has control over our democracy and our economy," said Meghan Schneider, senior spokesperson for Tax the Greedy Billionaires. "The ultrawealthy funneled billions of dollars into state and federal races to manipulate public opinion and buy influence, to further enrich themselves. From Michigan to Texas, voters across the political spectrum rallied against the billionaires and the cronies they bankrolled."
By electing candidates including El-Sayed, Talarico and Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.), said Schneider, voters sent a clear message: "We want leaders who will improve the lives of working people, not billionaires."
While billionaire opponents of California's proposed wealth tax, which would have established a one-time 5% tax on the state's richest residents, succeeded in crushing the proposal after spending more than $379 million against it, experts are expecting Democrats in Congress to consider bills, including one proposed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
"From Michigan to Texas, voters across the political spectrum rallied against the billionaires and the cronies they bankrolled."
The senator has called for a graduated surtax on people earning more than $1 million per year. Those who earn $1 million-$2 million would be taxed 5% and households earning more than $5 million would be taxed 12%, while the capital gains top tax rate would be raised from 23.8% to 35.8%.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has also joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in proposing the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which would establish an annual 5% tax on households whose net worth is more than $1 billion.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has proposed quadrupling a tax on stock buybacks, while Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), set to become the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a post-election statement Wednesday that "the committee will redouble its efforts to ensure billionaires pay their fair share and hold tax cheats accountable."
Van Hollen, who has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential contender or a successor to Schumer—but has said he doesn't plan to run for the latter—told Politico Thursday that even if President Donald Trump vetoes a potential billionaires' tax, putting forward the proposal would show the American public whose side the Democrats are on ahead of 2028.
“It is essential that we show the American people where we stand,” said Van Hollen. “If Trump vetoes it, it will just show people that he’s on the side of billionaires.”
Schneider said that with the artificial intelligence boom and looming initial public offerings by wealthy corporations "already accelerating historic wealth inequality and worsening the affordability crisis, the need to act decisively and quickly at the national level is dire."
"Leaders in the new Congress must deliver on their promises to put working people over billionaires," she said, "and introduce a national wealth tax within the first 100 days of the new Congress.”
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Warren Lays Out How Democrats Can Deliver for the Working Class—Even With Trump in the White House
"Democrats won this election by claiming we are on the side of working people, and working people are counting on us to deliver."
Nov 05, 2026
"Americans need Democrats to deliver now, not in two years."
That was US Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) post-election message to her fellow congressional Democrats on Thursday as she outlined how the party can use its impending control of the House and Senate to deliver real gains for the working class—even with corrupt billionaire President Donald Trump in the White House.
In an op-ed for TIME, Warren argued Democrats succeeded in midterm contests across the country "by being populist economic fighters who were unafraid to call out the corrupt politicians and corporate interests who have rigged the system at the expense of everyone else."
"Now, Democrats must deliver," the progressive senator wrote, urging her party to push Trump to live up to his vow to work with Democrats in the new Congress. "We should force him to do that on the affordability and corruption issues that drove this election—or call his bluff."
Warren laid out what she views as top priorities for the new Democratic majority, including: Ending Trump's illegal war in Iran, cutting costs for working families, moving to cancel Trump-GOP cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance, reversing Trump's tax cuts for the rich, and holding "Big Tech CEOs, Wall Street executives, and giant corporations" accountable for "ripping off the American people to make themselves richer."
The senator expressed openness to working with Republicans but wrote that Democrats must be willing to use the filibuster-proof reconciliation process—or eliminate the Senate's 60-vote filibuster entirely—to advance an ambitious agenda.
But what if Trump decides to wield his veto power against Democratic legislation, as he has suggested he could do?
Warren argued that Democrats must "test that out by passing legislation the American people support to make life more affordable and our government less corrupt."
"It would be a breach of faith with the people from South Carolina to Texas, who voted for us to address costs and corruption, to spend the next two years waiting for some future Democratic trifecta to hopefully deliver meaningful change," Warren wrote. "Democrats won this election by claiming we are on the side of working people, and working people are counting on us to deliver."
Another leading progressive in the Senate Democratic caucus, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), similarly argued that Democrats' historic midterm wins were "important," but "not enough."
"The American people want change. Real change. And the midterm election confirms just that," Sanders said in a video message, pointing to the urgent need to address out-of-control income and wealth inequality, the starvation-level federal minimum wage, unfettered artificial intelligence, the corrupt campaign finance system, the broken for-profit healthcare system, and more.
The solutions to those crises, he argued, "are not radical," pointing to broad public support for Medicare for All, expanding Social Security, and other progressive proposals.
"What we are talking about now is not only the need to fight for economic justice," said Sanders. "We are fighting to give hope to the American people—to allow them to understand that their government can work for them, can address the crises that they face, and will pay attention to the needs of the men, women and children in our country who are struggling, and not just the very, very wealthy campaign contributors."
"That is, in my view, what Democrats have got to do when they assume power in January," he added. "We can do it. We must do it."
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Bernie Sanders: Winning the Midterms Is Not Enough. Here's What We Must Do
The American people understand that the economy today is rigged and that we cannot continue the ‘same old, same old’ establishment politics and establishment policies.
Nov 05, 2026
On Tuesday, Trump told us to vote as if he were on the ballot. And that is exactly what the American people did.
Together, we stood up to authoritarianism and a president who does not believe in the Constitution or the rule of law. And we won.
With Democratic control over the Senate and the House, we will now—finally—be able to hold Donald Trump accountable.
The American people have had enough. They are demanding real change and bold policies that will dramatically improve their lives.
That is a big deal. But as important as it is, it is not enough. We have got to do more.
Whether we like it or not, we are living in an unprecedented moment in American history where our country faces extraordinary crises. We cannot and must not run away from them when Democrats assume power in January.
These crises must be dealt with.
It is no secret that in the United States and all over the world, people are giving up on democracy. Now, why is that?
And the answer is that—all over the world, not just in America—working families are struggling to put food on the table and pay for basic necessities while the very richest people become much richer. And, throughout our country and in many other countries, ordinary people are saying, ‘Does their government even know that they exist?’ Or are elected officials too busy worrying about the needs of the rich and the powerful?
This is an American issue, but, in fact, an international issue.
And in my view, the American people have had enough. They are demanding real change and bold policies that will dramatically improve their lives.
In the richest country on Earth, the American people want a government that stands for working families, not billionaire campaign contributors. And that is not just Bernie Sanders talking.
According to a recent AP poll, 80% of registered voters want either “complete and total upheaval” or “substantial change” in how this country is run. And that includes 97% of Democrats, 90% of independents, and 58% of Republicans.
In other words, the American people understand that the economy today is rigged and that we cannot continue the ‘same old, same old’ establishment politics and establishment policies.
The American people want change. Real change. And the midterm election confirms just that.
Let me give you some examples of what I mean and the issues that we have got to deal with.
In our country today, income and wealth inequality has reached unprecedented levels. The top 1% now owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. One man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. In my view, that is insane. And I think that’s how most Americans feel.
Democrats, when they gain control, in January, of the House and the Senate, cannot ignore this grotesque inequality. We must take on the greed of the very, very rich and their incredible wealth.
We must enact a 5% wealth tax on billionaires so that we can provide every working-class family in the country, a family of four, with a $12,000 direct payment.
And that means a Democratic Congress must pass a wealth tax on billionaires.
At a time when billionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than truck drivers or nurses, we must enact a 5% wealth tax on billionaires so that we can provide every working-class family in the country, a family of four, with a $12,000 direct payment. In other words, if you’re a working-class family of four, that’s $3,000 for every man, woman, and child—$12,000.
Furthermore, with that tax on billionaires, we can build 7 million units of low-income and affordable housing, we can make public colleges and universities tuition-free, and we can provide universal free child care for 13 million children. That is what a wealth tax on billionaires can do.
But taxing the oligarchs means more than just taking on their wealth.
It means ending their stranglehold over our political system.
Elon Musk and his billionaire friends have poured a record-breaking $2 billion into the recent election. That is absurd.
The American people want Congress to overturn Citizens United, abolish super PACs, and establish public funding of elections. Democracy must mean one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections.
But it’s not just massive income and wealth inequality that we have to deal with or a corrupt campaign finance system.
In America today—as everybody knows, and I get the same response wherever I go in this country—everybody understands that our healthcare system is broken. It is dysfunctional. And it is wildly expensive.
We spend almost twice as much per person on healthcare as any other major country. Yet, despite that huge expenditure, more than 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured. Over half a million people go bankrupt each year because of medical debt. We pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world. And tragically, more than 60,000 Americans die unnecessarily every year because they cannot afford medical care.
How cruel is that?
Yes, we must repeal the $1 trillion in cuts Trump made to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to prevent 15 million Americans from losing their healthcare. Yes, we must restore ACA tax credits to stop the outrageous premium spikes for 20 million Americans, but that is nowhere near enough. Healthcare must be considered as a human right, not a privilege. That means passing Medicare for all legislation now supported by 66% of the American people.
As an immediate first step, Democrats must lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 down to 55, expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing, and guarantee universal healthcare coverage for every child from birth through age 19. All of this can be accomplished with 51 votes in the Senate, through the reconciliation process.
But it’s not just income and wealth inequality that we have to deal with, or a corrupt campaign finance system or a dysfunctional healthcare system. We must deal with artificial intelligence—the most transformational technology in the history of humanity.
In America today, big tech oligarchs are spending trillions of dollars on artificial intelligence and robotics with virtually no regulation.
Democrats must enact a national moratorium on AI data centers, must pause advanced AI development and ban superintelligence.
This revolutionary technology will transform the lives of every man, woman, and child in our country and around the world. Left unchecked, AI and robotics will destroy tens of millions of jobs, devastate our children’s mental health, eviscerate our privacy rights, drive up electricity rates, strain water supplies, and transform warfare.
If AI becomes smarter than human beings and escapes human control, it will also pose an existential threat to the very existence of humanity. We cannot allow a handful of big tech billionaires to become even richer and more powerful by ramming this dangerous technology down our throats.
Democrats must enact a national moratorium on AI data centers, must pause advanced AI development and ban superintelligence.
And by the way, I might mention that in the election, in dozens of communities throughout our country, citizens voted for a moratorium on the construction of data centers. In other words, a moratorium on data centers is exactly what the American people want.
But my friends, it is not just oligarchy, a corrupt campaign finance system, a broken healthcare system, and uncontrolled AI.
In America today, while the very rich get richer, 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck and millions work long, long hours for incredibly low wages. That must change.
A job must lift people out of poverty, not keep them in it.
The $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. Democrats must raise it to a living wage of at least $20-an-hour and make it easier for workers to form unions by passing the PRO Act. A job must lift people out of poverty, not keep them in it.
Further, in our country today, one-third of our seniors are struggling economically, and more than 20% are trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year. Nearly half of older Americans have no retirement savings and no idea how they will retire with a shred of dignity. Meanwhile, Elon Musk pays the same amount into Social Security as someone earning $184,600 a year. That is absurd.
By applying the Social Security payroll tax to all income above $250,000, including capital gains and dividends, we could increase benefits by $2,400 a year, lift millions of seniors out of poverty, improve cost of living adjustments, and keep Social Security solvent for generations without raising taxes on the bottom 91% of Americans.
We must also restore the traditional pension plans corporate America took away so that every worker can count on a guaranteed income in retirement.
That is what a Democratic Congress must do.
Let me be clear. In America today, we spend more on the military than the next six nations combined. Despite massive waste, fraud, and abuse, the Pentagon has repeatedly failed independent audits and cannot account for trillions of dollars in spending. Adding insult to injury, Trump has dragged us into an illegal and unconstitutional war in Iran that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
We must end this disastrous war.
We must cut off all funding for the genocidal government in Israel.
And we must substantially reduce military spending.
Instead of pouring $1.1 trillion into a bloated Pentagon and never-ending wars, a Democratic Congress must build the best public education system in the world with no teacher earning less than $60,000 a year.
We are fighting to give hope to the American people—to allow them to understand that their government can work for them, can address the crises that they face, and will pay attention to the needs of the men, women and children in our country who are struggling, and not just the very, very wealthy campaign contributors.
And let me touch on one more subject that Democrats must deal with.
Since Trump took office, ICE agents have shot American citizens in cold blood, have broken down doors to arrest people, and have sent five-year-old children to detention centers. These actions are not only immoral and disgraceful, they are unconstitutional.
Democrats must immediately rein in the $75 billion Republicans gave Trump to fund his domestic army. Instead of ICE agents terrorizing communities throughout the country, we must finally move to comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship for the undocumented.
Let’s be clear: All of the policies I have just discussed—and more that I have not mentioned—are not radical.
They are precisely what a strong majority of the American people want.
So we are in a moment in American history where a lot of folks are losing faith in democracy. They are struggling every day just to stay alive while, at the same time, billionaires have more money than they can spend in a thousand lifetimes and are getting richer and richer all of the time.
What we are talking about now is not only the need to fight for economic justice.
We are fighting to give hope to the American people—to allow them to understand that their government can work for them, can address the crises that they face, and will pay attention to the needs of the men, women and children in our country who are struggling, and not just the very, very wealthy campaign contributors.
That is, in my view, what Democrats have got to do when they assume power in January.
We can do it. We must do it.
And I look forward to working with all of you to make sure that it happens.
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'If That's What's the American People Want,' Says Bernie Sanders, Let's Pass Medicare for All
"Our job is to do what the American people want and need."
Nov 05, 2026
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday made a case that Democrats should use their newfound majorities in the US Congress next year to pass Medicare for All legislation, and dare President Donald Trump to veto it.
Appearing on CNN, Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked by host Anderson Cooper how much he really expected to accomplish over the next two years with Trump still in the White House.
"Our job, Anderson, is to represent where working families are," Sanders replied. "The last poll that I saw, well over 60% of the American people want Medicare for All, they know the current system is broken and incredibly expensive. If that's what the American people want, let's do it!"
“Trump is a funny guy, I don’t think he’s all that ideological. I think he’s a politician and I’m not so sure that he will react all that negatively to a progressive agenda, believe it or not.”Bernie Sanders on pushing for a progressive agenda despite Trump having veto powers. https://t.co/dY0eEehzQh
— Substance (@SimplySubstance) November 5, 2026
Sanders then addressed concerns about Trump blocking the legislation.
"If Trump wants to veto it, that's his constitutional right," he said. "I'm not so sure, by the way, that he will because Medicare for All is extremely popular... Our job is to do what the American people want and need, Trump can do what he wants. But Trump is a funny guy, you know, I don't think he's all that ideological, I think he's a politician, and I'm not so sure he'll react all that negatively to a progressive agenda."
Sanders in recent days has been joined by fellow progressives, including Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), in pushing the new Congress to pass Medicare for All.
While it's certain to be a battle in Congress, even with Democratic majorities, Sanders argues that the party must not waste the opportunity that has now been put before them.
"The American people spoke loudly and clearly on Tuesday," Sanders said in a 15-minute recorded missive to the nation posted online. "The new Democratic majority cannot continue the same old, same old establishment policies. Working families want change, REAL change, and that’s what Democrats must deliver."
The American people spoke loudly and clearly on Tuesday. The new Democratic majority cannot continue the same old, same old establishment policies. Working families want change, REAL change, and that’s what Democrats must deliver. https://t.co/gCbDLLQM4O
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 5, 2026
"Yes, we must repeal the $1 trillion in cuts Trump made to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to prevent 15 million Americans from losing their healthcare," Sanders continued. "Yes, we must restore ACA tax credits to stop the outrageous premium spikes for 20 million Americans, but that is nowhere near enough. Healthcare must be considered as a human right, not a privilege. That means passing Medicare for all legislation now supported by 66% of the American people."
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Democratic Domination of Midterms Sparks Hope for Medicare for All
"Affordability was top of mind for voters last night, and within that, healthcare is an enormous driver."
Nov 04, 2026
"WHO WANTS MEDICARE FOR ALL?"
US Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked that question, in all caps, on social media late Tuesday as he won reelection and joined others from his party in trouncing President Donald Trump's Republicans across the country, securing majorities in both chambers of Congress thanks to voters frustrated by an affordability crisis under a GOP trifecta.
Although some races haven't yet been called, and key Democrats such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New Yorker likely to become the next speaker, don't support shifting the United States to a universal public healthcare system, the Democratic "tsunami" on Tuesday still revived hope that the results could help the fight for Medicare for All.
Democrats reclaimed both the US Senate and House of Representatives after Trump and congressional Republicans last year used their budget package, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to slash Medicaid spending and allow Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire—which has already led to millions of Americans losing health insurance coverage.
The wave of Democratic wins also came nearly five months after a coalition of over 325 organizations argued that "now is the time to organize" for Medicare for All, given that "we may face a once-in-a-generation opportunity to legislate on healthcare in 2029."
While—as the coalition suggested—passing federal Medicare for All legislation would likely require not only a Democrat-controlled Congress but also replacing Trump with a progressive president in 2028, the midterm results are still being seen by voters and elected officials alike as "a mandate to deliver big change" over the next two years.
"Wins by progressive candidates will jumpstart a national discussion of Medicare for All," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF. "Medicare for All isn't going to pass in the next two years. But, newly prominent advocates will have a platform to make sure it's part [of] the discussion, carrying through to the 2028 primaries."
Even without support from party leaders and the White House, Democrats may still push for congressional hearings or even votes on single-payer policies before the 2028 elections.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), lead sponsor of the Medicare for All Act in the House, told Punchbowl News this week that she wants to mark up the bill next year and fight for a vote on the floor: "I want to make sure we have the requisite number of co-sponsors, and I’m hoping that our leadership is part of helping to make that happen."
As Forbes reported:
Several Democrats who won seats in the US Senate and the US House of Representatives made Medicare for All or a public option key parts of their winning campaigns. Such ideas will likely get more airtime now that Democrats control both houses of Congress in a rebuke of Trump administration policies that have slashed healthcare spending.
Exactly what form a "public option" would take [is] unclear, but such a choice being offered to Americans alongside private and existing health insurance coverage would seem more achievable than replacing the existing health insurance system with Medicare for All.
The American Prospect pointed out that Medicare for All supporters who emerged victorious on Tuesday include Rep.-elects Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York's 7th, 10th, and 13th districts, along with "Democratic Georgia state Rep. Dr. Jasmine Clark, who won more than 81% of the vote to represent Georgia's 13th District; Democrat Melat Kiros, who beat nearly 30-year incumbent Republican US Rep. Diana DeGette to represent Colorado's 1st District; and Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George, who will be Washington, DC’s first new mayor in more than a decade."
Among the victors in the US Senate were Democrats Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Troy Jackson of Maine, also both vocal backers of Medicare for All. Jayapal highlighted that "Abdul was up against millions of dollars in dark money from Republican donors—and today Michigan voters sent a clear message that their state and their votes are not for sale."
"Abdul ran a strong campaign on Medicare for All, refused corporate [political action committee] money, and stayed focused on working families from day one to Election Day," she added. "I am so proud to have stood with him throughout his campaign and I cannot wait to work with him in Washington to deliver for you."
From leading a border blockade to protect loggers' wages, to the state legislature and President of the Maine Senate, Troy has spent his life fighting for working Mainers. We look forward to organizing with Sen.-elect Jackson to pass Medicare For All and secure a federal right to abortion.
— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) November 4, 2026 at 1:01 AM
The leading voice for Medicare for All in the upper chamber, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), worked to elect both El-Sayed and Jackson, as well as several leftist House candidates who won. He wrote on social media Wednesday that "last night saw some of the greatest progressive victories in modern American history. All across the country, in rural and urban areas, Americans said NO to oligarchy, and YES to an agenda that fights for the working class."
Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, is expected to chair the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions when the party takes over in January, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), another Medicare for All backer, will likely lead the Finance Committee, as STAT Washington correspondent John Wilkerson noted Wednesday—predicting that "the wins that Democrats amassed on Tuesday night could breathe life into efforts to create some type of a single-payer system."
Yale University researchers estimated in August that Sanders' related legislative proposal could save over 114,000 lives and $1 trillion annually. In response to those findings, the senator said that "at a time when 15 million Americans are being thrown off the healthcare they have and 20 million Americans have already seen their premiums double, on average, as a result of Trump's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill,' we need Medicare for All now more than ever."
A KFF survey released last month found that 66% of Americans—including 84% of Democrats, 72% of independents, and 34% of Republicans—support Medicare for All, the highest level of support since the organization began tracking the proposal.
Sharing KFF data on how the average US family's health insurance premium has soared over the past quarter-century, The Tennessee Holler declared on social media Wednesday: "Medicare for All. Now. We can't afford not to do it. It isn't radical to support it. It's radical to oppose it."
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'Thank You Bernie': Organizers Credit Progressive Leader for 'Long Game' That Paid Off
"He cultivated a whole generation of young leaders through the movement he spawned who are now winning seats everywhere."
Nov 04, 2026
The movement that led to at least 18 progressive victories in congressional races and 42 left-wing winners down-ballot "started with a man with 1% vote and three people at his announcement" of his presidential bid in 2015, said one organizer Tuesday night as Democrats won control of the US Senate and House, a majority of governorships, and made major gains in state legislatures.
"Bernie made the path" for progressive politicians to win crucial elections, said a labor organizer based in San Francisco, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "This wave has been a long time coming."
She was one of several observers who drew the connection from Sanders' unsuccessful but mobilizing presidential runs in 2016 and 2020, and his relentless centering of economic justice in his campaigns and legislative work, to the wave of victories Tuesday night by outspoken economic populists including Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) and Troy Jackson (D-Maine) and Reps.-elect Melat Kiros (D-Colo.), Donavan McKinney (D-Mich.), and Rebecca Cooke (D-Wis.).
"What a night for the movement Bernie has been building for decades," said Jeremy Slevin, Sanders' senior adviser and communications director, listing dozens of the candidates who were endorsed by the senator and ran on platforms demanding Medicare for All, housing justice, civil rights, and an end to the influence of powerful corporations on US politics.
RoseAnn DeMoro, a labor organizer and former executive director of National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association, recalled how, as her organization campaigned for Sanders in 2016 and 2020, "we educated, agitated, organized, gained the most principled allies, incredible people, like Abdul El-Sayed."
"And last night—we won!" said DeMoro.
She added: "Thank you, Bernie Sanders, for working your heart out to change this country. Your 'long game' should be very gratifying today."
A decade after he first ran for president, the proposals Sanders pushed in 2016 have been embraced by large majorities of Democratic voters, and even Americans across the political spectrum. His signature proposal, Medicare for All, dismissed then by former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as something that would "never, ever come to pass," is supported by 66% of US adults, according to a KFF poll taken last month, with 52% of respondents still supporting the idea if it would "eliminate private health insurance companies."
The US House held its first-ever hearings on Medicare for All in 2019, and some of the Democratic Party's most popular members—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), elected in 2018, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, elected in 2025—are outspoken proponents of the plan.
On Tuesday night, said Josh Orton of Demand Justice, "across the country, in red states and blue, Democratic candidates adopted the fight Bernie led for years: for the people against the powerful. You lead that fight and welcome everyone to join you, you win."
Even candidates who did not campaign alongside Sanders, such as Democratic Sen.-elect James Talarico and Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa in Texas, put forward platforms that showed clear signs of Sanders' influence on US politics. Hinojosa told The New York Times that "the one fight in this country is about economic power" as she explained why she identifies as a "populist" rather than a progressive, and Talarico spoke out against "the billionaires who own the social media platforms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens."
"The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and their power," Talarico said, suggesting a call for the working-class solidarity Sanders has urged at his Fighting Oligarchy rallies.
Will Steakin of Politico said he was "not sure any Democratic surrogate campaigned as hard as Sanders this cycle," counting 58 rallies since the Fighting Oligarchy Tour, attended by 340,000 people, and "20 rallies in October alone."
Posting a montage of the rallies, set to David Bowie's "Starman," the senator himself said that Americans "across the country, in rural and urban areas," had "said NO to oligarchy, and YES to an agenda that fights for the working class."
Last night saw some of the greatest progressive victories in modern American history. All across the country, in rural and urban areas, Americans said NO to oligarchy, and YES to an agenda that fights for the working class.Congratulations to the following candidates:U.S. SENATEAbdul El-Sayed (MI)Peggy Flanagan (MN)Troy Jackson (ME)U.S. HOUSEBob Brooks (PA-7)Rebecca Cooke (WI-3)Sam Forstag (MT-1)Adam Hamawy (NJ-12)Melat Kiros (CO-1)Brad Lander (NY-10)Will Lawrence (MI-7)Donavan McKinney (MI-13)Brian Poindexter (OH-7)Analilia Mejía (NJ-11)Claire Valdez (NY-07)Randy Villegas (CA-22)Aisha Wahab (CA-14)
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 4, 2026
"I am so happy that Bernie Sanders is with us today to be able to see the fruits of his labor. He cultivated a whole generation of young leaders through the movement he spawned who are now winning seats everywhere," historian Asad Dandia said of the 85-year-old senator. "Thank you, Bernie."
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'Trump Asked the People to Vote as If He Were on the Ballot,' Says Bernie Sanders. 'THEY DID.'
"Thank you Americans from coast to coast," said the Independent US Senator from Vermont.
Nov 04, 2026
In the wake of Tuesday's walloping of the Republican Party in congressional and state-level races across the country by Democratic candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Wednesday said it was as clear a repudiation of President Donald Trump and his horrible policies as there could possibly be.
"Trump asked the people to vote as if he were on the ballot," Sanders said in a social media post. "THEY DID."
On election day, Sanders had called on voters nationwide "to hold Donald Trump and his corrupt administration accountable" for his endless grift, greed, and cruelty. And after the so-called "blue tsunami" that saw Democrats claim majorities in the US House and US Senate, as well as many win numerous governor races and state legislatures, Sanders thanked voters for their historic turnout.
"Thank you Americans from coast to coast," he said.
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‘This Is Evil’: Critics Hammer Google Plan to Shut Off Search Access for Schools That Reject Its AI
"This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service," said former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.
Nov 03, 2026
Tech giant Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is telling US schools that there's a price to be paid for restricting student access to its artificial intelligence tools.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that, starting early next year, schools that fully disable the company's AI will also lose access to its search engine, which is by far the most used internet search tool in the world.
Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google, justified the policy by claiming that "Search and AI are deeply integrated," adding that students attending schools where AI is banned "will not have access to Search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available."
As the Times noted, Google has deeply integrated itself into US classrooms, many of which rely on its Classroom assignment platform and equip students with low-cost Chromebook laptops.
"The company’s new strategy underscores Google’s powerful role in American education," the Times explained. "If school leaders want continued student access to Search within the company’s ecosystem, they will be forced to embrace Google's AI."
Schools around the US have been banning the use of AI for young students over concerns that reliance on the technology will hinder the development of critical thinking skills and also enable mass cheating on assignments.
Morgan Polikoff, an education professor at the University of Southern California, told the Times that he expects Google's new policy linking AI and Search will only add more fuel to the backlash against the tech industry.
"This is a particularly clear example of the tech industry going out of its way to force AI on us all," said Polikoff, "even if we have said we don’t want it."
Lina Khan, former chair of the Federal Trade Commission under President Joe Biden, accused Google of "using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI," and said it was yet another reason why antitrust action should be taken against the company.
"This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service," Khan wrote in a social media post. "Multiple courts have found Google liable for violating antitrust laws, and this latest move shows it remains unchastened. As the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools, Google is making clear it will punish those who don’t fall in line."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose city earlier this year banned AI in elementary and middle schools, similarly took Google to task for trying to force its products onto students.
"No corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children," Mamdani wrote. "Our public schools exist to serve students, not to grow the profit margins of Big Tech."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) used news of Google's new AI school policy to take a shot at President Donald Trump, who has constantly downplayed the need for any regulation of the industry.
"President Trump claimed that AI oligarchs could regulate themselves because they 'love our country,'" Sanders wrote. "Now, Google is threatening schools: If you stop your students from using AI, we will cut off your access to Google Search. That’s not love. That’s extortion."
Cognitive scientist Gary Marcus, a longtime skeptic of the AI industry, responded to Google's move by writing, "This is evil."
Author Kashana Cauley remarked that Google's motto used to be "don't be evil," whereas today its motto appears to be, "We are now holding your kids and their schools hostage."
Cauley added that schools wouldn't be in this position if they hadn't taken up Google's offer to supply low-cost Chromebooks for students.
"The schools shouldn’t be beholden to district-wide Chromebook deals if Google is holding us hostage," she wrote. "We need to get Chromebooks and Google out of the schools."
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'Obscene': Billionaire Funders Allowed California Wealth Tax Foes to Outspend Proponents 250 to 1
"California, send these oligarchs a message: Democracy is not for sale," said US Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Nov 03, 2026
Foes of a California ballot initiative to establish a one-time 5% wealth tax on the state's billionaires have spent vastly more on advertising than proponents—and polls show that money may be having an impact.
A Monday report in The Washington Post estimated that opponents of California’s Proposition 40, led by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, have spent 250 times more than those in favor of the tax.
In total, the Post found, tax opponents have raised more than $379 million to fight the wealth tax, while proponents of the initiative have raised just $35 million.
The spending disparity in advertising is even greater, as tax opponents have spent $148 million on ads, while proponents have spent a mere $572,000.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has been leading the charge against the measure, having donated more than $100 million to ensure its defeat.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr, meanwhile, have both chipped in $40 million each to help defeat the proposal.
The spending blitz comes as polling has shown a steady erosion of support for Proposition 40.
As noted by Gizmodo on Monday, two recent surveys—one from the Public Policy Institute of California and another from the University of California Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies—show that opposition to the measure now outpaces support. For several months prior, polls showed a majority of California voters in favor of the wealth tax.
David McCuan, a political scientist at Sonoma State University, told the Post that opponents of the tax appear to have held their fire until late in the campaign, when most voters have traditionally started to really pay attention to ballot initiatives.
"The strategy has been to blanket the airwaves in weeks three and four," McCuan said, "and carpet-bomb the airwaves in the last two weeks."
McCuan also estimated that the battle over Proposition 40 "will be the most expensive ballot measure in the history of the world."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) decried the billionaire campaign to defeat the tax in a Monday social media post.
"Oligarchs in California spent $379 million against Prop 40, a 5% billionaire wealth tax, outraising supporters 250-1," Sanders wrote. "They’d rather poor kids die than pay a little more in taxes. Obscene. California, send these oligarchs a message: Democracy is not for sale. Vote for Prop 40."
Economist Gabriel Zucman, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview with NPR published Monday that the wealth tax in California was part of a broader fight to take away power from the ultrarich, who have seen their wealth grow by leaps and bounds over the last several decades.
"If California says, 'We can tax billionaires. We can tax the wealthiest, most powerful people in the world,'" Zucman explained, "it will be the beginning of not only a broader US-wide movement, ultimately paving the way for a federal wealth tax—but I think it will be the beginning of an international movement."
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Sanders Calls for 'Fundamental and Immediate Reform' to Democratic Party If It Wins Elections
"With a return to power," said Sanders, the Democratic Party "can no longer continue to ignore the major economic and political crises facing the majority of our people... or that return to power will be short-lived."
Nov 03, 2026
As a campaign season in which dozens of progressive candidates endorsed by US Sen. Bernie Sanders prevailed in primaries, the independent Vermont lawmaker urged his supporters across the country to "do all we can to bring out the vote to end Republican control of Congress," while urging voters to look beyond the goal of reining in President Donald Trump.
"If the pundits are correct and Democrats are able to take back the House and even the Senate, the Democratic Party must undergo fundamental and immediate reform," said Sanders in an email to supporters.
The senator's closing message of the campaign season came as the latest poll from The New York Times/Siena found Democrats, including progressives whose views have been deemed "too extreme" by the Democratic establishment and Republicans, with strong leads in Michigan, Texas, Maine, Ohio, and Kansas.
But he warned voters against allowing potential new majorities in the US House and Senate to become complacent, should the Democrats take control of one or both chambers.
"Status quo politics and status quo policies are no longer good enough," said Sanders. "With a return to power, [Democrats] can no longer continue to ignore the major economic and political crises facing the majority of our people... or that return to power will be short-lived."
Instead of accepting the ironclad grip on US politics held by wealthy corporations, billionaires like tech mogul Elon Musk, and powerful interest groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which poured more than $100 million into the 2026 elections, Sanders called on Democrats to prioritize "ending Citizens United" and getting super political action committees, which can spend unlimited money on behalf of candidates thanks to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling, "out of elections."
"We must no longer allow billionaires to buy elections," said Sanders, a day after it was reported that Musk had spent nearly $450 million to help elect GOP candidates tied to the deeply unpopular Trump, his illegal war on Iran, and the mass deportation policy that has torn apart families and angered people across the country.
Although some influential Democrats, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential candidate, have pushed back against broadly popular efforts to tax the ultrarich, Sanders said the party must "create an economy that works for every man, woman, and child in our country and not just the 1%," and use tax revenue from billionaires to address many of the most persistent problems in the US economy.
With potential Democratic majorities at the federal level, "we must impose a wealth tax on billionaires and use that funding to build millions of units of affordable housing, establish universal and free childcare, and make public colleges and universities tuition-free," said Sanders, pushing back against Democrats like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, another potential 2028 contender, who has opposed proposals for tuition-free public higher education.
The senator also spoke directly about California's proposed wealth tax, Proposition 40, urging voters to support the measure on the eve of the election.
Sanders suggested that if Democrats take control of the US House and Senate, leaders like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) must take a hard look at the public's views on artificial intelligence and data centers, healthcare, and hundreds of billions of dollars in military spending.
"YES, we must make certain that the revolutionary technologies of artificial intelligence and robotics are used to improve life for all of us, not just make the Big Tech oligarchs even richer," said Sanders. "YES, we must join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all people as a human right through Medicare for All. YES, instead of spending more than a trillion dollars a year on the military and endless wars, we must create the best public education system in the world with no teacher earning less than $60,000 a year."
Over the past two years, said Sanders, "we have changed political consciousness in our country. On major issue after major issue the positions that we have been fighting for over the years are now supported by a significant majority of Americans."
With progressives including US Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Troy Jackson and US House candidates such as Melat Kiros, Donavan McKinney, Claire Valdez, and Adam Hamawy potentially changing the balance of power in Congress, Sanders suggested the Democratic Party will have no choice but to fight for fundamental changes to the US economy and political system, and for the interests of working people.
"The Democratic Party must respond to the urgent needs of the working people of this country," said Sanders, "not wealthy campaign contributors."
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