Nancy Pelosi tells Democrats to be ready to have House majority

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats on Tuesday to prepare for the possibility of taking control of the chamber.

The California Democrat wrote in a post-Labor Day memo to colleagues that the party should “Be Ready for the prospect that we will be in the Majority in January” after November’s midterm elections. Pelosi said that committee ranking members and other Democratic members have started to draft legislation to follow through on the party’s agenda that it outlined in recent months.

The House Democratic leader said the party has started to craft bills that would aim to cut health-care costs, boost pay and crack down on corruption. Pelosi added that Democrats should prepare to act on “measures that have bipartisan support” including legislation to shield young undocumented immigrants from deportation and to prevent gun violence.

The message comes about two months before the midterms, when Pelosi’s Democratic Party hopes to flip the 23 GOP-held seats needed to take a House majority. Forecasters consider Democrats at least slight favorites to do so. They lead Republicans by more than 10 percentage points in an average of recent generic ballots asking Americans which party they would prefer, according to FiveThirtyEight.

President Donald Trump‘s poor approval rating relative to most of his recent predecessors is expected to help Democrats, and polls in key states have found that more voters want their ballot in November to provide a check on Trump rather than to boost the president’s agenda.

Pelosi’s message to Democrats does not mention Trump’s name, or some Democrats’ calls to impeach the president. Party leaders and swing district House candidates have avoided discussion about removing the president from office, as they worry it could energize Republicans in key races.

Democrats on the campaign trail have prioritized health care and wages, among other issues, as they try to win numerous swing districts currently represented by Republicans across the country.

As a slew of allegations of self enrichment and abuse of taxpayer funds hit the Trump administration earlier this year, Democrats unveiled a handful of proposals aiming to reduce the influence of lobbyists and donors, stop partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts and improve voter registration.

Corruption became more of a focus for the party following GOP Rep. Chris Collins’ indictment on insider trading charges and Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter’s indictment on alleged misuse of campaign funds.

Both lawmakers pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, though Collins suspended his re-election campaign.