“The amount of news coming out of Washington, DC, over the past year surprised and, at times, overwhelmed longtime political pundits. On his first day in office, President Trump signed more than two dozen executive orders (EOs); since then, he’s signed nearly 200 more on issues such as immigration, government reform, trade and foreign policy. That’s more EOs than President Biden signed during his entire four years in office, and nearly as many as Trump himself signed in his first full term from 2017 to 2021. Congress also defied expectations. Republicans passed a major piece of tax legislation in time for an ambitious July 4 deadline. But things began to get more challenging in October when, failing to pass funding measures, Congress oversaw the longest government shutdown in history, clocking in at 43 days. In this environment, it is challenging to make accurate predictions; nevertheless, there are some indicators that point toward the following political trends for 2026 and beyond: *Legislative progress will be slow and look even slower.*Regulatory change will accelerate. The Supreme Court will be in the spotlight.*The midterms are likely to result in a divided Congress – Democrats are well positioned to win the House, while Republicans are well positioned to retain the Senate.*The fight for both parties’ leadership will begin to heat up.”
Morten W. Langer
