Sen. Ruben Gallego unveils 32-page economic plan while weighing a 2028 presidential run

Mixed · 2Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., released a 32-page national economic plan on Wednesday 7 October 2026 titled "Saving the Middle Class and Restoring the American Dream." 1 2 Mixed · 2The plan calls for a $20 federal minimum wage and a New Deal-style public service jobs program for workers displaced by AI. 1 2 Mixed · 2The jobs program would be funded by taxes on data centers and AI companies; NBC News describes an excise tax on revenue from large AI companies, and Reason describes a possible 10 percent excise tax on data centers, which Gallego would "explore." 1 2

Left · 1NBC News says the plan has five pillars, including raising wages and benefits, creating and protecting blue-collar jobs, and helping workers find jobs faster. It would also let individuals charge tech companies for using their personal data and require human review of AI workplace decisions such as hiring and layoffs. 1 Mixed · 2Other proposals include a "robot" tax to discourage replacing humans with automation, double pay for overtime, and a goal to "triple union density by 2035" through measures such as automatic union certification when over 50 percent of workers sign authorization cards. 1 2 Right · 1Reason adds that the plan would ban mergers involving companies worth more than $100 billion, raise taxes on capital gains, foreign profits and stock buybacks, and create a "Worker Empowerment Corps" and an "Office of Worker Advocacy." It also says Gallego would consider banning "complete automation" and setting "hard caps on technology deployment." 2

Left · 1In an interview with NBC News, Gallego, 46, said he is "absolutely thinking about" a 2028 presidential run. He said he is weighing how to balance a campaign with raising three young children, and that Democrats need to state what they stand for whether or not he runs. 1 Left · 1Gallego said middle-class workers face pressure from AI and automation and from decades of an economy that has not supported them. He also blamed both parties, saying Republicans have been worse for the working class but that Democrats "can’t not be blamed," and the plan declares that "This bipartisan, failed status quo must end." 1 Left · 1NBC News notes that Gallego's past friendship with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned this year amid sexual assault allegations, could be a liability. Swalwell denied misconduct, and Gallego said he was unaware of any inappropriate behavior. The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint against Gallego brought by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, finding no evidence of inappropriate sexual conduct or a campaign finance violation. 1

Right · 1Reason argues the plan is unlikely to become law soon but offers a preview of what progressive candidates might propose in 2028. It contends the minimum wage, merger and automation limits would cost jobs, citing a 2023 Congressional Budget Office finding on a $17 minimum wage proposal of 700,000 fewer jobs by 2029. 2