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E.J. Dionne: What House Democrats need to do

Related Topics: Democracy, House

Washington - Expanding health coverage, reforming our democracy, restoring upward mobility with well-paying jobs, curbing gun violence, and moving to repair our immigration system.

Oh, yes, and protecting our constitutional republic from President Trump while rooting out corruption.

This should be the agenda of Democrats in the House of Representatives. Already, some pundits are warning that the new majority will "overreach." But overreach is not the problem for a party that controls only one chamber of Congress.

The bigger threat is underachievement. Democrats will squander their victory — likely their largest gain in House seats since 1974 — if they fail to use their power to show what the alternative to Trumpism looks like.