Democratic Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas said Sunday that lowering costs for Americans should be his party's top priority in the next Congress, adding that he would be "deeply disappointed" to spend his first two years in office investigating members of the Trump administration.
"The bigger priority for me, and I think for most people in America, especially people living paycheck to paycheck, is 'please help us with the cost of living,'" Hamilton said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press." Hamilton flipped deep-red Kansas for Democrats in Tuesday's midterm elections.
He said the new Congress should move immediately to end the war in Iran and claw back tariff policies. "I want to get to work helping the people in my state and helping the people across the country," he said.
His comments come as Democrats sort out their agenda following sweeping victories Tuesday that handed them control of both the House and the Senate in the next Congress. Many newly elected members are urging a focus on affordability, while some senior leaders have promised aggressive oversight of President Donald Trump and his allies, citing possible corruption.
"Whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court and entangle him in legislative razor wire," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Wednesday. Several Democrats, including Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who served as an impeachment manager during one of Trump's first-term impeachments, have raised the possibility of impeaching the president a third time.
"I'm not as interested in impeachment as setting up guardrails," Hamilton said Sunday, though he added, "I understand the move and the desire to do this." He warned fellow Democrats that they risk squandering their victory if they put investigations and oversight ahead of making life more affordable.
"Let's focus on helping the American people," he said, arguing that if Democrats fail to deliver, "this is going to be a one and done, kind of, you know, kind of blue wave."
Democrats have won 54 Senate seats, with races in Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled. If a majority of Democratic senators back him, Schumer could be poised to take over as Senate majority leader in the next Congress. Hamilton said he does not plan to support Schumer's bid.
Hamilton said he has "no disrespect for Chuck Schumer," but has told the New York senator directly that he does not want him as majority leader. He pointed to the volume of campaign ads that tied him to Schumer, saying many Kansas voters who do not know the senator personally perceive him as "further to the left" and "a divisive figure."
Asked whom he might support instead, Hamilton declined to name anyone, saying he personally knows only about 10 senators and those through brief conversations. He noted there are "a handful of people" he thinks "lead more from the center," but said he does not know enough yet to make an endorsement.
