Democrats may gain platform but lack power to shift EV, fuels policy: analysts
Democratic control of Congress after the November US midterm elections would give the party a larger platform to promote electric vehicles and challenge President Donald Trump’s energy policies, but it is unlikely to meaningfully accelerate US EV adoption or a broader fuel transition before the 2028 presidential election. Congressional Democrats could hold hearings, investigate administration decisions and argue that greater reliance on oil will become increasingly costly.
But restoring federal EV incentives or reversing the rollback of vehicle-efficiency rules would require legislation acceptable to Trump or enough congressional support to override his veto, analysts said. Neither outcome is expected under the likely configurations of the next Congress. S&P Global Energy CERA analysts in a September report expect neither party to secure the 60 Senate votes generally required to end a filibuster or the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override a veto.