US Congressional Investigations Ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections: Preparing for a Shifting Oversight Landscape

The outcome of the 2026 US midterm elections could significantly reshape congressional oversight, particularly if control of the Senate or House of Representatives changes hands and committee leadership and control over committee subpoena authority shifts. Ahead of the elections, companies should review their oversight planning policies in order to be prepared for potential future congressional investigation risk.

Key Takeaways

• While the 2026 midterm elections remains three months away, companies should begin assessing their congressional investigation risk now. Oversight planning is most effective before an inquiry begins.
• Regardless of which party controls Congress, investigations involving pricing and affordability, AI, data privacy, digital assets, trade and national security, and healthcare are likely to remain prominent.
• In many instances, congressional investigations occur alongside agency enforcement actions, state attorney general investigations, shareholder litigation, and public scrutiny, making coordinated legal and communications strategies essential. On other occasions, they could result in new legislation or referrals to Executive Branch agencies recommending enforcement actions.  

A CHANGING OVERSIGHT LANDSCAPE

With Congress recessed for the summer and the 2026 midterm elections approaching, organizations should begin evaluating how changes in congressional leadership could affect their oversight risk.

Historically, midterm elections have produced meaningful shifts in congressional power. Since 1938, the president's party has lost House of Representative seats in all but two midterm elections. Republicans currently control both chambers, with a particularly narrow margin in the House, leaving control of the House—and potentially the Senate—highly competitive heading into November.

The election outcome will determine not only legislative priorities but also which party controls committee oversight resources, hearing schedules, and subpoena authority. For companies operating in highly regulated industries or with significant government-facing activities, these changes may materially affect congressional scrutiny over the next two years.

Regardless of whether control of either chamber changes hands, oversight activity is likely to remain robust. If Republicans retain control of both chambers, committees are expected to continue pursuing investigations involving China, government spending, technology platforms, immigration, financial regulation, and the policies and operations of federal agencies. If Democrats gain control of one or both chambers, however, shifts in committee leadership and subpoena authority—combined with divided government and more limited legislative opportunities—could produce a more significant shift in oversight priorities and greater reliance on investigations. 

WHAT COULD CHANGE IF DEMOCRATS REGAIN A CHAMBER?

Should Democrats regain control of either the House or Senate, Committees such as House Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Ways and Means, Homeland Security, and their Senate counterparts could redirect investigative resources toward corporate conduct affecting consumers, financial markets, healthcare, technology, and national security.

Although specific priorities will continue to evolve, companies should anticipate increased attention in the following areas.

Consumer Pricing and Affordability

Consumer pricing has emerged as a bipartisan political issue, and Democratic lawmakers have increasingly framed affordability as one of their key policy priorities. Democratic state legislatures in Maryland, Connecticut, California, New York, and New Jersey have all passed state legislation to restrict so-called “surveillance” or algorithmic pricing, and some municipalities have banned certain algorithmic pricing practices in particular industries. Additionally, recent initiatives by state attorneys general, including California's newly announced Affordability Response Team, and federal scrutiny of gasoline pricing demonstrate that affordability concerns are increasingly shaping enforcement and oversight discussions.

Accordingly, we expect Congress to devote substantial attention to affordability and cost of living issues. Congressional investigations could examine surveillance and algorithmic pricing, antitrust concerns, consumer fees, pharmaceutical and healthcare pricing, housing, insurance, food and fuel pricing, crop inputs, and other topics or sectors, including private equity, that some lawmakers may view as contributing to rising consumer costs.

Technology, AI, and Data Practices

As congressional interest in AI continues to expand across party lines, oversight will remain an attractive tool to monitor AI labs as well as adopters.

Potential investigations may focus on the safety and security of AI development. For example, bipartisan issues involving AI include concerns about regular testing of AI models, product-related risks, frontier model deployment decisions, harms arising from AI chatbots, and how to handle foreign-developed AI models.

Additionally, Congress will likely continue to be interested in legislation and oversight related to children’s online safety, consumer privacy, workforce impacts, intellectual property, algorithmic decision-making, cybersecurity, government procurement, consumer data collection, surveillance practices, and the use of emerging technologies in regulated industries.

Companies deploying AI or processing, maintaining, or controlling consumer data should expect continued bipartisan scrutiny regardless of election outcomes. In a divided government scenario, committees may also use AI-related investigations and hearings to scrutinize companies’ interactions with the administration or explore new AI policy approaches.

Trade, Supply Chains, and National Security

Congress has increasingly viewed trade and national security as overlapping policy issues.

Future investigations could examine tariff compliance, customs enforcement, supply-chain restructuring, export controls, foreign direct investment and outbound investment, technology transfers, critical infrastructure, and business relationships involving strategic competitors such as China. Specifically, Democratic-led committees may examine reports of Chinese efforts to divert advanced semiconductors and companies’ export control and supply chain integrity compliance programs.

Bipartisan interest in investigations into cross-border pharmaceutical and life-sciences investment, partnerships, and supply-chain dependencies involving China will also likely remain an important issue on Capitol Hill.

Finally, bipartisan connected-vehicle legislation has advanced in the 119th Congress, including recent approval by the Senate Commerce Committee, to address concerns about the role Chinese automotive original equipment manufacturers and part suppliers will play going forward, particularly in the connected vehicle supply chain. While Congress may still pass the Connected Vehicle Security Act this year, failing to do so will likely increase the likelihood for additional inquiries in the 120^th Congress.

Businesses with international operations should also anticipate continued oversight regarding sanctions compliance and supply-chain resilience.

While we expect a continuation of the bipartisan approach Congress has undertaken to investigate national security concerns associated with China’s access to advanced technologies and presence in the information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain, we anticipate Democrats will prioritize inquiries into transactions involving foreign or sovereign-linked investors that Democratic lawmakers have argued warrant greater national-security scrutiny.

For instance, Democratic senators have requested on multiple occasions that a national security review be conducted for the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger based on the countries and ownership percentages that are involved in that transaction. Although the FCC has referred the transaction’s foreign-ownership petition to the Executive Branch interagency committee known as Team Telecom to review it for national security and law enforcement risks, those Democratic lawmakers’ letters and requests could provide a roadmap for subpoenas and document demands if control of the relevant committees shifts.

Financial Services and Digital Assets

Committees overseeing financial markets are likely to continue examining digital assets, prediction markets, consumer financial protection, fintech, banking practices, and market stability.

Depending on the final scope of any digital-asset market-structure legislation and related ethics and conflict-of-interest provisions, Democratic-led committees may examine digital-asset ventures involving government officials and their families, including projects associated with the Trump family, as well as the administration’s regulatory approach to the sector.

Prediction markets are a particular source of controversy, especially those involving sports. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and its regulated exchanges are currently battling state and tribal regulators in courts across the country over whether federally regulated event contracts fall within the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction or remain subject to state and tribal gaming laws. Members of Congress from both parties believe some form of legislation is necessary in this space, but a Democratic majority could intensify oversight of the industry, the CFTC’s regulatory approach, and the consumer-protection implications of sports-related contracts.

As regulatory frameworks continue to evolve, congressional oversight will likely shape both legislative developments and agency priorities.

Healthcare and Life Sciences

Healthcare remains a perennial focus of congressional oversight. Broadly speaking, these topics include access, availability, and cost of healthcare, medical product innovation, and other aspects of public health, such as drug shortages and food safety.

Potential investigations may involve any of the many issues of long-standing interest by Congress, including drug pricing, the role of patents and intellectual property in medical innovation and competition, Medicare Advantage, healthcare consolidation, pharmacy benefit managers, reimbursement practices, healthcare fraud, the role of private equity in healthcare, and federal healthcare spending. More recent Congressional interest has tied medical product development, domestic manufacturing, and national security concerns, in a reaction to increased and accelerating investment in the Chinese biotech industry.

Additionally, recent multistate foodborne-illness outbreaks, including the ongoing Cyclospora outbreak, could also generate oversight attention, particularly where lawmakers perceive shortcomings in prevention, inspection, traceability, or agency response.

Government Contracting and Administration Priorities

Companies that sell to or receive funding from the US government may also receive increased congressional attention. These companies may find themselves answering questions about the scope and nature of work performed under government contracts, as well as the structure of and payments received under those arrangements.

Additionally, companies that have participated in the current administration’s high-profile funding initiatives, infrastructure projects, or government-investment arrangements could face questions concerning recipient selection, conflicts of interest, performance, and the use of public funds. Companies may receive inquiries not because Congress suspects misconduct, but because they participated in a program, transaction, or policy initiative that a committee is examining. Contractors should also continue to watch for issues related to supply chain, cybersecurity and conflicts of interest as these matters tend to attract bipartisan attention and could bring increased scrutiny in the midst of a Congress primed for investigative activity.  

LESSONS FROM PRIOR OVERSIGHT CYCLES

Democratic-controlled committees would be positioned to draw on experience from prior oversight cycles, including extensive litigation involving congressional subpoenas and executive privilege during the 116^th and 117^th Congresses.

Organizations should also expect congressional investigations to become increasingly coordinated across committees and, in some instances, overlapping with or informing parallel inquiries by inspectors general, federal agencies, state attorneys general, or private litigants.

Congressional investigations today rarely exist in isolation. Public hearings, document productions, and witness testimony frequently shape parallel regulatory and enforcement activity while also creating significant reputational considerations.

PRACTICAL STEPS ORGANIZATIONS CAN TAKE NOW

Although the political landscape remains uncertain, organizations need not wait until after the election to prepare.

Companies should consider the following:

• Assessing whether current business activities align with likely congressional oversight priorities
• Reviewing document retention and preservation protocols and the organization’s ability to implement an appropriate legal hold promptly
• Reviewing internal communication practices with the understanding that written communications may later become public through hearings, committee reports, or authorized disclosures
• Coordinating legal, compliance, government affairs, and communications functions to ensure a consistent response strategy
• Understanding how a congressional investigation could intersect with US Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, state attorney general, inspector general, or other regulatory inquiries.

Organizations that prepare before receiving an inquiry are generally better positioned to respond efficiently while minimizing legal, operational, and reputational disruption.

LOOKING AHEAD

The months leading to the 2026 elections are likely to provide increasing visibility into committee priorities, campaign messaging, and emerging oversight themes. Regardless of the ultimate election outcome, congressional investigations are expected to remain an important tool for shaping public policy, influencing regulatory agendas, and scrutinizing corporate conduct.

Morgan Lewis will continue monitoring developments throughout the election cycle. In the second installment of this series, we will examine how the fall campaign season is reshaping congressional investigations, which oversight efforts remain active, and what organizations should expect as lawmakers balance governing with election-year politics.