Seven Democratic Socialists could become the most powerful members of the Democratic Party if Democrats manage to claw their way back into the House.
That is the warning from longtime political strategist and Trump adviser Dick Morris, who says a handful of Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates are positioned to win safe Democratic seats—and could hold the balance of power in a razor-thin Democratic majority.
Morris made the case to Newsmax as the DSA celebrated a string of primary victories heading toward the 2026 elections.
The number is striking: seven DSA-backed candidates have already won their Democratic primaries in districts considered safe enough that they are likely to reach Congress.
And Morris says that is all it would take.
“In the House, you have seven candidates who are nominated by the Democrats who are going to win, either incumbents or they're in a one-party district,” Morris said on Saturday Report. “They're in very safe districts, very safe blue districts, who are socialists.”
That distinction matters.
Democratic Socialists do not need to win dozens of competitive congressional races to wield influence. They simply need to win enough safe seats to become indispensable if Democrats capture the House by a handful of votes.
Republicans currently control the chamber, while Democrats are campaigning aggressively to take it back in November.
Morris does not expect that to happen.
But he is warning Republicans—and Americans—about what could happen if his prediction is wrong.
“If the Democrats win the House, which I don't think they will, but if they do, it'll be by a narrow margin,” Morris said. “And if it's a narrow margin, those seven socialists will be the tail that wags the dog, because Jeffries and the other Democratic leaders are not going to be able to get a majority without them.”
That would put House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a familiar Washington bind: satisfy the party's most demanding faction or lose the votes needed to govern.
And Morris believes the demands would not be modest.
“They're going to say, unless you abolish ICE, unless you abolish the Senate, unless you adopt a crazy agenda, we're not going to vote for you, and you won't have your majority.”
The DSA's own 2025-2026 program calls for sweeping structural changes to the federal government, including eliminating the Senate and restructuring the executive and judiciary under a single legislature.
That is not a minor policy disagreement.
It is a fundamentally different vision of how American government should operate.
Morris argues that the consequences would extend beyond the seven lawmakers themselves.
“A Democrat becomes a different brand. It becomes a brand of socialism,” he said. “Even if your candidate and your district are not a socialist, he'll have to go along because there'll be enough members of his caucus who will force him to.”
That is where the comparison to the Republican Party's populist wing comes in.
Asked whether the DSA's influence could resemble the power exercised by the Tea Party or today's MAGA movement, Morris said the underlying political mechanics are similar.
“In much the same way that the MAGA base rules the Republican Party,” Morris said. “Now, it's not always a majority of the House, but they need to make a majority for the Republican Party. And that'll be true for the Democrats.”
The difference, from Morris' perspective, is that Democrats and the media may be underestimating what a small socialist bloc could accomplish if it holds the votes needed to keep Democratic leadership in power.
“I think we're underestimating the danger of those socialists who will be in Congress,” he said.
There is another wrinkle.
Most of the DSA-backed candidates are not expected to survive the general election in competitive districts. Morris readily acknowledged that.
“Most of the socialists are going to lose general elections. The Republicans are going to beat them,” he said.
But then came his central point:
“These seven congressmen are in. And that's enough to control the caucus.”
The DSA endorsed 29 House candidates during the current cycle. Seven have won their primaries, while 11 have lost and another 11 remain pending.
Among the winners are incumbent Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Donavan McKinney, who defeated Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar in Michigan's 13th Congressional District on Aug. 4.
The broader trend is impossible to miss.
The Democratic Party is increasingly being pulled between its traditional establishment and a younger, more aggressive socialist movement that wants to remake the country's institutions rather than simply manage them.
For Republicans, the lesson is equally straightforward.
The 2026 House elections will not be decided only by which party wins the most seats. They could also determine which faction controls the party that wins.
If Democrats return to power by the narrowest of margins, seven socialist lawmakers could find themselves with an extraordinary amount of leverage over the entire Democratic caucus.
And if Morris is right, Hakeem Jeffries may discover that winning the House is one thing.
