Congressional Investigations: What to Expect in the 120th Congress

Congressional investigations have become an increasingly attractive tool for members of Congress. During the 119th Congress, the Republican majority conducted extensive oversight activities, leveraging their investigative authorities to prime policy proposals, probe perceived malfeasance, and platform issues salient to their political priorities. For their part, Democrats developed oversight themes related to Trump administration conduct and interactions with the private sector. Come November, control of either or both congressional chambers may flip to Democrats, who have signaled an extensive and aggressive oversight agenda. Even if neither chamber flips, a Republican-led 120th Congress would almost certainly continue its heavy oversight activity. In either case, private sector organizations of all types, including nonprofits and corporations, should be prepared for significant congressional investigative activity. Below, we describe what that might look like under either scenario. 

Democratic Oversight Priorities

Despite lacking the gavel during the 119th Congress, the Democratic ranking members of key congressional committees have been active in their oversight activities, providing valuable insight into what their priorities may be if given the gavel next year. We expect the following themes to be a heavy focus of any Democrat-led congressional chamber.

Interactions With the Trump Administration

Key Democratic congressional leaders have exhibited a clear interest in exploring the private sector’s interactions with the Trump administration. In particular, congressional Democrats will be interested in investigating any settlements, deals, or other formal or informal agreements between private sector entities and the administration. Indeed, key Democratic oversight leaders have already sent dozens of letters on topics such as law firm settlements, donations to the White House ballroom project, partnerships with Trump-affiliated companies, private sector investments in Trump administration federal projects, and private sector deals to avoid the imposition or full impact of blanket policies such as tariffs. Relatedly, major companies in industries where the Trump administration has relaxed regulations are likely to have any lobbying or advocacy activities placed under a microscope. 

These investigations will likely take on the framework of anticorruption, transparency, and combating alleged self-dealing. Given that the executive branch enjoys constitutional privileges and procedural levers in congressional investigations that private sector entities do not, it is highly likely that many companies with perceived dealings with the Trump administration may find themselves targeted by Democrat-led oversight committees as proxies for the Trump administration. 

Ranking members of congressional oversight committees have also sent numerous letters regarding issues such as insider trading conflicts of interest, self-enrichment, and the use of government power or public resources to benefit members or allies of the administration. This theme ran through inquiries into Trump family-linked defense contracts, Freedom 250 fundraising, and other matters involving public resources. Many of these inquiries centered on individuals that retain affiliation with private sector entities, and it is possible that these types of investigations will sweep in those entities. 

Artificial Intelligence

Democratic oversight leaders have also signaled interest in conducting oversight of numerous entities related to artificial intelligence (AI). This includes AI labs, AI-forward companies, and entities associated with building or financing AI-related infrastructure. While oversight of AI has been a focus of Republicans as well as Democrats, Republicans have typically focused on supply chain security and potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Under a Democrat-led House or Senate, oversight of the AI sector will likely focus on themes such as environmental effects, consumer protection issues such as surveillance pricing, labor rights associated with increased automation, interactions with the Trump administration, and financial and operational transparency. While many Democrats will likely continue investigating supply chain and CCP-related issues concerning AI, these will likely take a back seat to broader concerns about the social, environmental, and commercial impact of AI. 

Energy Companies

Congressional Democrats will likely launch significant inquiries focused on energy policy as well. A confluence of factors contributes to heavy Democratic interest in energy companies. First, Democrats will be looking to scrutinize Trump administration initiatives to “unleash American energy” and correspondingly roll back incentives for green energy. These kinds of investigations will likely focus on the industry’s advocacy activities, as well as the environmental impacts of energy production. Second, controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s activities in Venezuela and Iran garnered significant congressional interest in energy companies perceived to be in a position to benefit. It is also possible that Democrats will seek to investigate the commercial reasonableness of rising gas prices, or any resulting stagflation following a ceasefire, relative to facts on the ground. 

Financial Institutions

Financial institutions will likely find themselves in congressional crosshairs with respect to investigations into a variety of issues. Democrats have signaled that, consistent with midterm campaign messaging, affordability and consumer protection issues will remain a central policy platform. Meanwhile, many Democratic members have expressed ire at the dissolution or paring back of financial regulators, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. To that end, financial institutions should expect to see inquiries into consumer-facing issues, such as overdraft policies, or issues regarding structural conduct or regulatory rollbacks, such as capital requirements.

Social Media

Social media companies have experienced a deluge of congressional oversight across both Republican- and Democrat-led congresses. While the 119th Congress saw Republican-led committees focusing on issues such as free speech and online child protection, expect Democrat-led committees to home in on issues such as content moderation, detection and disclosure surrounding deepfakes, intellectual property, and mental health. Among a small—and, in fact, bipartisan—cadre of elected officials, there has also been a push to explore revisions to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Moreover, Democrats, like Republicans, are likely to continue aggressively investigating issues around children’s online safety. Finally, here as in other contexts, companies that have had dealings with the Trump administration may have those interactions scrutinized. 

Consumer Protection and Labor Issues

Across all private industry sectors, we expect Democrat-led investigations to focus on general consumer protection and labor issues. This will include issues such as dynamic pricing, labor contracting practices, any mergers or acquisitions perceived to be anticompetitive, privatization of public-facing services, and alleged price gouging. Within this bucket, unregulated or newly regulated industries, such as sports betting platforms, prediction markets, and certain types of crypto and crypto-adjacent companies, may encounter oversight attention.

Republican Oversight Priorities

Should the Republican Party maintain its majority in either chamber of Congress, we can expect to see a continuation of the oversight themes apparent from the 119th Congress. 

Immigration Enforcement

Immigration policy generated significant oversight activity from Republican committee chairs. Investigations focused on state-level policies or practices, nonprofits and corporate entities associated with providing services to migrants, and nonprofits engaged in immigration-related advocacy. Inquiries into state and local entities focused on cooperation with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, detainer practices, and information sharing with federal officials, while investigations into nonprofits and private sector entities focused on organized protests and services rendered to undocumented migrants. Taken together, these activities reflected a sustained Republican effort to frame local immigration policies as public-safety and federal enforcement issues, while repetition across committees suggests this was one of the clearest organized oversight priorities on the Republican side. It is likely that Republicans will continue this trend if they hold onto either chamber of Congress. 

CCP Influence, Research Security, and Strategic Competition

Republican committee chairs pursued wide-ranging inquiries tied to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the CCP during the 119th Congress, spanning national security, trade, research, and critical infrastructure. This Republican interest in PRC-related issues cut across industry sectors and target types. Investigations have focused on issues ranging from universities regarding their research programs, to pharmaceutical companies, to alleged funding by PRC-related entities of nonprofits, to entities with operations or partnerships in the PRC. Given the Trump administration’s focus on competition with the PRC, it is likely that Republican oversight interest in this issue will not wane in a 120th Congress. 

Fraud and State Administration of Federal Programs

Significant congressional resources were dedicated to investigating alleged fraud in state-administered programs during the 119th Congress. Multiple key committees, including the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, led wide-ranging investigations into issues across a number of states and types of programs. In recent months, the fraud vertical has expanded to encompass contractors associated with states’ administration of these programs. It is likely that any state contracts will experience sustained congressional scrutiny with respect to fraud controls during the 120th Congress should Republicans retain a majority in either chamber of Congress. 

Foreign Funders and Tax-Exempt Entities

Republican-led committees carried out extensive oversight activities with respect to nonprofits and foreign individuals or entities that allegedly have ties to domestic nonprofits. Investigations focused primarily on funding streams, alleged ties to foreign agents and governments, protest funding, and alleged partisan activity favoring Democrats. It is likely that if either congressional chamber says within Republican control, this oversight stream will continue. 

Preparing for the 120th Congress

What does this all mean for private sector entities? During this era of political volatility, it is particularly important for companies to be prepared for any political scenario that might play out. Such preparation may involve internal diligence and risk assessments with respect to potential congressional oversight, ensuring your organization is integrated into the political arena through key congressional relationships to mitigate the impact of potential activity and ensuring access to bipartisan counsel able to leverage both investigations capability and, where needed, policy advocacy to navigate both Democrat-led and Republican-led congressional committees. This type of scenario planning is crucial in priming organizational leadership for potential oversight risk. The potential for a Democrat-led House and Republican-led Senate come January 2027 only compounds this consideration. 

Companies with potential exposure should also begin planning now, well ahead of the midterms, for all potential outcomes. November will precipitate a sprint within the private sector to prepare ahead of the following Congress, and it is not uncommon for ranking members who know they will ascend to committee chair to start sending oversight letters in November of a midterm year. Companies must be nimble and able to respond swiftly to any incoming letters, which means having already done internal diligence to understand vulnerabilities and craft a public-facing narrative. 

The increasing importance of congressional investigations means that companies should begin planning now for any potential outcome of the midterm elections. Retaining bipartisan, seasoned counsel is crucial for any entity seeking to minimize the legal and reputational risk associated with being the target of a congressional inquiry. 

The firm has an experienced, bipartisan team with deep experience—in Congress, at the White House, at the Department of Justice, and in other federal agencies—that has helped clients across industries as they navigate politically charged congressional investigations.