The Democrats’ upcoming simple majority in the Senate will enable them to take multiple actions on climate, public lands, endangered species and other environmental issues. But the lack of a veto-proof majority means that Democrats’ power will still be somewhat limited, given the need for President Donald Trump’s signature on legislation.
Here are some of the concrete actions that a Democrat-led Senate could take to advance their environmental priorities.
Like the House, the Senate has the authority to launch investigations of the Trump administration’s actions, including the power to issue subpoenas to compel documents and testimony. The White House’s energy policies and extensive regulatory rollbacks of clean air, climate and species protection regulations are likely to be targets for committees overseeing those areas, such as the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Other potential investigatory targets include the funding of Trump’s Washington, DC, construction projects, specifically whether any of the money for them came out of the National Park Service’s maintenance budget.
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Watch for Senate committees to call for testimony from Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin in particular, since their agencies have executed much of the administration’s fossil fuel-centered energy policy and deregulatory agenda.
The administration’s war on wind power is also likely to come under scrutiny and may ensnare Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Another possible investigatory target? The DOGE cuts to environmental agencies.
Although investigations can partly be political theater, they can have real consequences if they uncover wrongdoing on the part of officials or agencies. Even bureaucratic snafus, like not following the proper procedures when making major changes to regulations, can yield meaningful results, potentially leading to the overturning of regulatory rollbacks and even legal trouble for agency officials.
Senate Democrats could seek to prevent the administration’s environmental actions through the appropriations process by attaching language to bills that would prohibit any money from being spent to keep coal-fired power plants open, something that the Energy Department has used emergency orders to do on multiple occasions. Democrats could also prohibit spending money to build data centers on public lands or only allow their construction after soliciting extensive local public input, Michael Gerrard, an environmental law professor at Columbia University Law School, said.
“Appropriations riders are one thing with real teeth that they could insist on,” Gerrard said of Senate Democrats. “However, the larger appropriations bills that such language would be attached to require a 60-vote threshold to pass, which means there would need to be some cooperation from the other side of the aisle.”
But that isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, because some of the things Democrats will want to do — such as breaking the logjam of approvals for wind and other renewable energy projects around the country — do have bipartisan support.
Democrats will lack a veto-proof majority in the Senate, however, which means that if Trump vetoes such bills, they will serve more as a signal to voters about Democratic priorities rather than becoming laws.
The ascendant Democratic majority in the Senate will have the ability to block Trump’s nominees for environment-related positions, including for independent regulatory agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that play a large role in setting US energy policy.
A Democrat-led Senate could also choose not to act on or oppose nominees for some independent agencies, Gerrard said, rendering those entities without a quorum and thus unable to function. This could suit Democrats’ interests in some cases, while irritating the White House, he said. It could also serve as a deterrent against the president when it comes to firing members of independent agencies.
The Senate confirms higher-profile nominees as well, including nominees for the Supreme Court, should a vacancy occur, along with cabinet secretaries. The confirmation process is likely to be far more confrontational under Democrats than it was during the administration’s first two years in office with unified Republican control of Congress.
Democratic senators can also work to pass bills that would accomplish their key environmental goals, regardless of whether the president signs it. This could include bills aimed at fully staffing environmental agencies like the US Geological Service, EPA, NPS and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after DOGE cuts reduced their headcounts.
If Democrats want to restore certain clean energy subsidies that Republicans ended, they could try to do so through a process known as reconciliation, which has a simple majority threshold but strict requirements for what can go into the legislation. But that would still need the president’s signature.
Ultimately, a simple Democratic majority in the Senate can accomplish some of the Democrats’ environmental agenda and undo some of the actions that the president and Republican Congress took during the first two years of Trump’s second term in office. But it would take a larger majority, or capturing the White House, to make more sweeping and lasting policy changes.
