The First 100 Days of a Jeff Merkley Presidency: What the Record Suggests

Hero photo: Capitol of Oregon — via Wikimedia Commons.

01 The scenario

Jeff Merkley of Oregon is a Democratic senator in office since 2009, now Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and before that Oregon's House Speaker and an affordable-housing developer who ran Portland Area Habitat for Humanity. This article asks a hypothetical question: if he were ever sworn in as president, what would the first 100 days look like based on his documented record? This is a scenario analysis, not a prediction that the person will become president and not an endorsement or criticism of the person.

Merkley's record is an institutionalist's record with a housing spine: bills against hedge funds owning homes, letters against tariffs he argues raise housing costs, a democracy package against executive overreach, and a civil-service bill. A reasonable inference from these positions is that a Merkley White House would open with the levers a president holds alone — rescinding executive orders he opposes on day one, setting FHFA and FHA financing rules, directing FTC enforcement — while the HOPE for Homeownership Act, the For Our Republic Act and the elections bill would require congressional approval rather than unilateral presidential action.

02 The record: who Jeff Merkley is

Merkley has represented Oregon in the Senate since 2009 and holds the seat once held by Mark Hatfield, his mentor. He is Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and also sits on Environment and Public Works. Before the Senate he was Oregon House Speaker (2007-2009), where he passed the state's first rainy-day fund, expanded affordable prescription drugs, enacted LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections, and banned predatory payday lending. Before that he was Executive Director of Portland Area Habitat for Humanity and an affordable-housing developer. Born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon — a timber town — the son of a millwright, he was the first in his family to graduate from college (1979), and his early career was in nuclear disarmament and military-spending policy analysis in Washington, D.C.

The biography matters for the scenario: housing is his career-long thread, and the Budget Committee gavel-side seat is the congressional check on unilateral spending actions — impoundment and reconciliation — that a president holds.

03 Housing and hedge funds

On February 27, 2025, Merkley introduced the Humans Over Private Equity (HOPE) for Homeownership Act with Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) to stop hedge funds buying up single-family homes: “Houses should be homes for families, not profit centers for hedge funds.” He renewed the effort with Sen. Kelly (D-AZ).

The HOPE Act needs Congress. The executive levers a friendly president could use unilaterally are FHFA and FHA financing rules and mainly tax and FTC enforcement, which are administrative — narrower than the statute his office explicitly calls for, and the scenario treats them as the day-one version of his agenda.

04 Tariffs and housing costs

On May 1, 2025, Merkley led, with Sens. Warren (D-MA) and Blunt Rochester (D-DE), a 19-senators' letter to Trump: “America is in the midst of a nationwide housing shortage... your reckless trade policies will only make the crisis worse” — arguing across-the-board tariffs raise lumber, appliance and housing costs. He also pushed FTC action “to prevent corporations from using Trump's chaotic tariffs as cover to price gouge Americans.”

This is the sharpest day-one item in his record: tariffs under IEEPA and Sections 232 and 301 are a presidential lever. As a senator his tools are letters, CRA nullification votes and Budget Committee hearings — he cannot block unilaterally. As president, the same lever would be his to hold or release; the record strongly suggests he would release it.

05 Democracy and the anti-authoritarian agenda

Merkley unveiled the For Our Republic Act (2025), a “comprehensive legislative package to fight back against President Trump's aggressive authoritarian takeover” — defending Inspectors General, protecting civil servants, reasserting Congress' power of the purse, anti-corruption measures, free speech, and elections. His statement: “Authoritarianism isn't down the street or around the corner — it is here right now.” The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Duckworth and Blumenthal, and he published a “Ring the Alarm Bells: Trump's Authoritarian Playbook” analysis on his official site.

The package is Congress-bound by design — it constrains the presidency itself. A scenario can only note the inversion: much of what the For Our Republic Act would mandate by statute (protecting inspectors general, civil-service protections) sits within a president's day-one administrative authority, which is exactly why a president aligned with Merkley could enact much of it unilaterally — and why he wants it in law anyway.

06 Voting rights and elections

Merkley co-sponsored the Defending America's Future Elections Act with Sen. Wyden (D-OR) to repeal Trump's election-related executive order and block DOGE access to state voter registration data: “This anti-voter executive order is a direct assault on our democracy.” He also joined Wyden's call for restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

The lever split is clean: the bill would statutorily repeal an executive order — Congress — but a president can rescind his own executive orders on day one. The scenario notes the difference between the two routes without attributing any position beyond what the record documents.

07 Civil service and the power of the purse

Merkley co-leads, with Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), the TALENTS Act to revive the Presidential Management Fellows program (cross-verified via Sen. Kim's office). And as Budget Committee Ranking Member he holds the institutional check on impoundment and reconciliation — the main congressional lever against unilateral spending actions.

The TALENTS Act is a statute; but the Presidential Management Fellows program is itself an executive-branch program, so a president aligned with Merkley could direct its revival administratively. His Budget Committee seat is the documented evidence that he knows exactly where the purse strings attach — which is what makes his record's emphasis on statutory constraints notable: he wants the levers bound by law, not just held by a friendly president.

08 What the record cannot tell us

The evidence runs out in specific places. The For Our Republic Act's bill number or numbers were not verified on congress.gov (the press release is verified, and it may be a package of multiple bills). His EPW subcommittee assignments were not individually verified in this pass. No documented 2025 position was found on defense or immigration specifics — there is not enough public evidence to determine those positions, and none is inferred. A voting-record roll-call list was not pulled from congress.gov in this pass.

Disclaimer: this article is a scenario analysis based on the documented public record as of September 21, 2026. It is not a prediction that Jeff Merkley will become president, nor an endorsement or criticism of him or his positions. Where evidence is incomplete, that is stated rather than filled in.