Corporate Communications and Government Affairs Must Build One Joint Playbook for a Post-Midterm Divided Washington
Source: "Data centers and DEI show why companies need one midterm playbook | Fox News." October 15, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
Even if Democrats win Congress in November, the president will still control agencies and regulations, and voters' real views on issues won't match the election results. Companies that let their lobbying and PR teams work separately risk being blindsided, as data center firms were by local opposition. The author says both teams should build one shared plan before the fallout arrives.
Conclusion
After the November midterms, companies should build a single, integrated playbook created jointly by corporate communications and government affairs teams, mapping vulnerabilities, leverage, and shifting allies, rather than having each function handle its own stakeholders separately.
Premises
- A Democratic House or Congress would not mean a Democratic Washington, because presidents have historically kept enormous executive and regulatory power after midterm losses (Bush's Iraq surge and offshore drilling order, Obama's immigration order and Iran deal, Biden's FTC suits).
- Trump in particular has shown he will use executive and agency power after losing Congress (2018 shutdown and border-wall emergency declaration), so assuming he will be a quiet lame duck is unrealistic.
- Midterm results do not reflect voters' real views on specific issues: voters have not switched allegiance, and midterm losses by the president's party are normal and mostly economically driven.
- Government affairs teams understand regulators, agencies, and Congress, while corporate communications teams understand what customers, employees, communities, and other stakeholders believe; each function alone sees only part of the picture.
- Data centers show the cost of siloed approaches: companies won permits and political support through government affairs but neglected local communities, which then helped delay about 40% of data centers due to open this year.
- Issues like DEI and hotel chains housing ICE agents will likely draw congressional scrutiny, and handling them requires both committee and agency relationships and a read on stakeholder sentiment, so neither team can manage them alone.
Assumptions
- Democrats are likely to win control of at least one chamber of Congress in November.
- Congressional oversight (hearings, investigations) will intensify under a divided government and will target corporations on politically charged issues.
- The data-center delays were caused substantially by siloed corporate functions and community opposition, rather than by other factors.
- Corporate communications and government affairs are currently siloed in most companies, and a joint playbook would improve coordination and outcomes.
- Historical presidential behavior after midterm losses predicts Trump's behavior in 2027-2028.
- Reputational and stakeholder trust problems are costly enough to justify organizational restructuring of planning processes.