The outcome of the November 6th midterm elections will determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Currently, both chambers are controlled by Republicans.
Members of both parties have recently shown strong support for historic preservation. Congress provided $96.9 million to the Historic Preservation Fund in an omnibus spending bill earlier this year. This amount was a record high, and an increase of $16 million from the prior year.
While historic preservation often carries bipartisan appeal, the election outcome will have significant impacts on the direction of preservation policy. If Republicans retain control, we can expect more of the same focus on rolling back federal regulations, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and expanding energy exploration.
However, if Democrats win, the approach to these issues will change significantly. Rather than the steady stream of bills that would weaken NEPA, permit the President to shrink national monuments, and open more public lands up to energy exploration, we’d see the opposite. Leaders like Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ], expected to be Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, have pledged to shore up NEPA after years of watching Republicans weakening it.
Democrats have also committed to step up oversight of the administration and all of its activities. In the majority, Democrats would appoint the chairs of Congressional committees. Those chairs could hold hearings and investigate Administration activities, which current Republican committee chairs have largely avoided. Congressional committees have the authority to issue subpoenas, both to compel production of documents or testimony by reluctant administration officials. Congressional investigations would give the public greater insight into some of the Trump Administration’s most controversial policies, like the decision to shrink Bears Ears National Monument. Democrats are also expected to focus their oversight on possible corruption. For the Administration, responding to Congressional investigations would divert time and resources from implementing core policy priorities.
Because the majority party, through Congressional committee chairs, decides which legislation is brought up for a vote, as well as which executive branch policies and activities are investigated, the balance of power in Congress can mean big changes in the direction of historic preservation policy next year.
After the November election, the current Republican Congress will reconvene for a lame duck session in November and December to take up the remaining appropriation bills that fund the federal government’s operations for the remainder of fiscal year 2019, which ends on September 30, 2019. Other possible legislation that may be considered in the lame duck is addressing deferred maintenance at national parks and permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund. However, it’s possible that these issues may not be resolved before the end of the year, in which case they would be punted to the new Congress that starts in January 2019.[/fusion_text]