President Donald Trump listens to questions from reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on September 28, 2026 in Washington.
Kevin Dietch | Getty Images
President Donald Trump is expected to face a series of investigations once Democrats take control of Congress in January. His focus is likely to be on building a comprehensive consensus in the energy sector.
Democrats have been pressuring the White House for months over the legality of its intervention in Venezuela’s oil sector and the cancellation of renewable energy projects funded by the Biden administration. They have raised conflict of interest concerns regarding a number of deals in the mineral sector.
However, until now opposition parties have only been able to send strongly worded letters to government officials. When the next Congress convenes in January, Democrats will be able to exercise subpoena power that comes with control of the committees, giving them the power to compel testimony and document disclosure.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress intends to pursue an aggressive oversight policy to root out corruption, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone, the committee’s likely chairman, said in a statement.
Democrats hold majorities in both houses of Congress and are likely to pass the War Powers Resolution, which seeks to end the conflict that has sent fuel prices soaring in the United States and around the world.
1. Iran War
Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as markets predicted an election loss would force President Trump to strike a deal with Iran. Vice President J.D. Vance directly blamed the Republican defeat on the war, raising questions about whether there was support within the administration for continuing the conflict.
House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is likely to take over the House speaker’s gavel in January, said Wednesday that Democrats will “end this reckless and costly war of choice that has driven up gas prices across the country.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, vice chairman of the Democratic caucus, said the new Congress would seek to rein in the administration by passing legislation to end the conflict. Jeffries said Democrats will pass the War Powers Resolution, although President Trump will almost certainly veto it. It is unclear whether Democrats will also seek to limit war funding.
Nevertheless, Patrick de Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said in a social media post Wednesday that lower oil prices could push gasoline below $4 a gallon next week and diesel below $6 by Thanksgiving.
But the odds remain favorable to military escalation in the Middle East, warned Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy and former energy adviser to President George W. Bush.
“Iran remains firmly committed to its uncompromising position,” McNally said. “President Trump has paid a heavy price for his determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but he is unlikely to abandon this traditional goal and walk away.”
2. Venezuelan oil
Democratic lawmakers have been pressuring the Trump administration for months to report to Congress on how Venezuela’s oil revenues were spent, to no avail.
The US government took control of Venezuelan oil exports in January after ousting former President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid. The Pentagon has acquired a stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), an unnamed oil company said to be developing Venezuela’s oil reserves. The deal would likely give the United States control over 65 billion barrels of oil.
A crude oil tanker is docked and loaded at the Bajo Grande oil terminal on Lake Maracaibo in San Francisco, Zulia state, Venezuela, on September 1, 2026. The sea-loading operation follows the announcement of a 25-year bilateral agreement on Venezuela’s oil reserves signed under the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Jose Isaac Bra | Anadolu | Getty Images
House Democrats warned the oil industry in January that a deal with the United States for Venezuelan oil could expose the industry to “legal risks, including civil liability from creditors who owe Venezuela and its various state-owned entities nearly $200 billion.”
Democratic senators then sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in September questioning the legal basis of the U.S. government’s agreement with NABEP.
When the NABEP deal was announced in August, energy analysts warned that it might not survive if Democrats took control in Washington.
3. Trade in important minerals
Democrats have also raised concerns about conflicts of interest over a series of Trump administration deals in critical minerals.
The White House has justified the deals, which often involve government stakes in private companies, as critical to U.S. national security and necessary to support parts of the mining industry whose markets are being squeezed by Chinese competitors.
But Democratic senators point to Cantor Fitzgerald’s involvement in many of these transactions as cause for concern. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick led Mr. Cantor before joining the Trump administration. After entering the cabinet, he personally withdrew from the cantor and handed over management to his sons.
In a July letter, Democratic senators asked the federal government to preserve records on transactions involving 14 companies.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Commerce dismissed the allegations. “If Democrats send me a letter, I’ll respond to the letter, but the letter doesn’t matter because when I’m not doing anything wrong, I don’t worry or care,” Lutnick said in a CNBC interview in September.
“Just answer their stupid questions and you can move on,” Lutnick said. “Trying to create something that doesn’t exist is a waste of time.”
Others are not so cavalier. usa rare earthsOne of the companies named in the senators’ letter warned investors that there is little precedent for a deal that includes the U.S. government as a shareholder.
As a result, the company could be subject to litigation, political scrutiny and changes in federal priorities, it said in a March filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
4. Canceled energy projects
Since taking office, the Trump administration has waged a relentless campaign favoring fossil fuels and opposing renewable energy, particularly wind power.
Dominion Energy wind turbines located 44 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach in the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 2023.
Kendall Warner | Virginia Pilot | Getty Images
Democrats are unlikely to reinstate tax credits phased out by President Trump’s massive tax bill because of the president’s veto. But it is certain to pressure the administration over about $8 billion in energy projects it has canceled in states that supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Congress the project was not canceled based on political considerations. Several House Democrats have accused Wright of lying, an allegation denied by the Department of Energy.
Democrats are also closely monitoring the administration’s efforts to phase out U.S. offshore wind power. The Ministry of the Interior, for example, is trying to acquire leases for several such projects. total energy Nearly $1 billion will be needed to cancel offshore wind projects and halt future investments in similar projects in the United States. Total agreed to invest in natural gas instead.
Reps. Jared Huffman and Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking Democrats on the Natural Resources and Judiciary committees, respectively, launched an investigation in April, arguing that the Total Energy deal was illegal.
