The private sector and their army of lobbyists are preparing for Democrats to wrest some control from President Donald Trump next year.
Major industries such as technology and pharmaceuticals have spent the past year focused on winning over Trump’s favor, while others have kept their heads down to avoid being targeted by the administration. Seven months before the midterms, some of those same companies are recalibrating in hopes that Democrats will seize at least one chamber of Congress and the investigative and subpoena powers that come with it.
Democrats plan to go into aggressive oversight mode, scrutinizing Trump’s actions and how the corporate world treated him — from donations to his ballroom projects and his inauguration to drug pricing dealmaking.
“I think the trifecta of ‘We need to go to the White House, we need to go to Mar-a-Lago, we need to write checks for the ballroom’ is going to look very different,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum think tank.
He said there would be “absolutely” little point in colluding with Trump once the Democrats take over the investigation.
Major companies and lobbying firms are making new hires to boost their standing with Democrats in preparation for a possible transition of power. Palantir, the technology company co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel that won the contract during his second term, has retained Democratic lobbyists Christina Antonello and Debra Dixon of Ferox Strategies. Top law and lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld appointed Democratic congressional investigations veteran Marcus Childress to co-lead the firm’s congressional investigations practice.
Capitol Hill staffers “sent out a warning to the city saying that when the Democrats come back to power — not when — that’s when they’re going to have aggressive, aggressive oversight of everything Trump is doing,” said a Democratic lobbyist who, like some others in this report, was granted anonymity to describe private conversations.
While Capitol Hill expects Trump and his administration to ignore the subpoenas issued to them, “the corporations that are here supporting Trump in countless ways will not be given the same opportunity to take a pass,” the person said. “So they have to answer what was promised when you gave the money to the Ballroom? Or Freedom 250?”
Freedom 250, the White House initiative to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, is one of several Trump-led projects seeking donations from the private sector.
One high-profile target is expected to be one of the Trump administration’s most talked-about policy wins: most-favored nation status, a policy designed to force drugmakers to undercut the prices offered in other developed countries.
Another Democratic lobbyist said related agreements would be “blatantly torn up.”
“Democrats are going to see what’s behind the scenes very soon,” the person said. “It’s a short window, things will change. … Being so comfortable puts a doubt on your back very quickly.”
Following Trump’s re-election and his return to the White House, major companies spent months making sure they appeared before the president. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook were among those who dined at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates are some of those who attended dinner at the white house; And Amazon, Coinbase, Ripple and Tether were among those that donated to Trump’s ballroom project.
“We can investigate big corporations,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who is set to take over the powerful House Oversight Committee in the Democratic majority, told POLITICO last month about his oversight priorities. This could include “organizations that are also harming consumers – big companies using data to manipulate pricing, foreign interests that are driving up the cost of housing, contracts through the Department of Defense that are going to friends and family of administration members.”
Of course, companies’ interest in the White House won’t go away, but they will need to balance a number of competing pressures to maintain Democratic control of Congress.
“Nobody is trying to pick a fight,” said a third Democrat on K Street. “But I think they’re standing up for themselves in a way that they probably weren’t in March 2025.”
The private sector will be under the microscope during a potential Democratic investigation, according to top government relations firm Holland & KnightMentioned in a memorandum published on Tuesday. The memo noted the expectation that the investigation would address “key topics” such as financial contributions to Trump and the use of government information for activities by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
“Democratic leaders are investigating private corporations for payoffs,” said Childress, who spent the last year as special counsel and investigator for Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Raskin is set to chair the committee if Democrats flip the House. Previously, Childress served as an investigating counsel for the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.
“If my former boss or Democratic members have determined, or they have heard or they believe that certain companies or industries have been encouraged to give money to fundraisers or certain committees associated with President Trump” The child said, ““We would expect that leaders would probably want to know what these companies have been promised or what they have got in return, right?”
Additionally, Democrats are expected to investigate activities related to family members of the Trump family and Cabinet secretaries, particularly items related to cryptocurrency. The pardons the President has issued – including controversial ones like Binance founder Changpeng Zhao – are subject to scrutiny.
“There is no scenario where this should not be at the center of our (work) moving forward,” Garcia said.
Most major corporations that do business before government are well aware of the need to engage with both parties in Washington, no matter who is in power. But the focus on nurturing relationships between the new line of Democratic leaders and potential committee chairmen has been there since earlier this year.
The companies and K Street firms are looking to hire lobbyists or consultants who can help them by donating to Democrats’ campaigns or affiliated PACs or linking up with organizations like the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute or the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, according to a fourth Democratic lobbyist associated with the leadership.
Palantir’s recent appointment of Ferox Strategies hits many of those notes. Antonello, the firm’s CEO, is the former acting head of CHCI, while Dixon is the former chief of staff to former Representative Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), who served on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Garcia is also a member of the CHC, which will be a key constituency for Palantir, given the ICE Use of company data analytics Supporting federal immigration enforcement, including helping the agency manage and prioritize deportation cases.
“The story in Washington is absolutely not accurate,” Antonello said of Palantir. company have pushed back criticism Highlighting the fact that its software Has been used for less-controversial tasks in various federal agencies from USDA to HHS, and its history of contracting with the federal government extends back to the Obama administration.
“Democrats don’t like (deportation) raids, they don’t like ICE, they don’t like Trump, and they’re trying to take it out on the tools that ICE is using, contrary to policy,” he said.
A GOP lobbyist said an effort to groom customers is underway.
Clients are being encouraged to “imagine that you partnered with the administration on any one of these five things – a contract, a grant, a press thing, a factory tour, a trade deal – what would the Democrats’ line of attack be if they had gavels?” The person said.
The third Democratic lobbyist said that people who contributed to things like the Ballroom or Freedom 250 “have a very good story to tell, hopefully given your track record of supporting a wide range of other philanthropic initiatives in Washington.”
Companies are preparing their clients for a potential Democratic takeover, even if the client has not made headlines for its dealings with the White House.
“If you’re associating with the Trump administration … it’s not that you’re at risk because you did something wrong, but you may have documents and information that are easier to get from you than from the Trump administration,” said former federal prosecutor Abby Kohlman, who co-leads the congressional investigative practice in Akin.
Companies already have access to Hill, he said.
