While several key races in last week’s elections have yet to be called, the power shift in Congress and the White House will influence water-related policy decisions for years to come. In this article, we explore the implications of a second-term Trump Administration and a power shift in Congress for federal water reuse policy and programs.
The White House
In recent years, WateReuse Association members have benefited significantly from the Biden Administration’s investments in water through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act, an investment of $1 billion for water recycling in the West. The Biden Administration also implemented the Federal Interagency Working Group on Water Reuse comprised of officials from 15 federal agencies and charged with coordinating federal activities related to water reuse.
That said, the first Trump Administration, more so than any administration before it, advanced administrative policies and initiatives that scaled up support for water recycling across the Federal Government and beyond. This included the creation of the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP), the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever program office dedicated to water reuse, the formation of a water “subcabinet” made up of Senate-confirmed appointees from across the Executive Branch, and the integration of water recycling into federal guidance, rules, and policy positions.
Water recycling has had strong bipartisan support across the current and prior administrations, and we are hopeful that a second-term Trump Administration will remain supportive. Beyond continuing its leadership role on water recycling, a second-term Trump Administration may seek to rescind and/or amend rules and regulations promulgated by the Biden Administration. This could include EPA’s drinking water standard for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as well as EPA’s designation of certain PFAS as hazardous substances on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). In anticipation of working with the incoming administration, WateReuse recently delivered recommendations to the Trump transition team (see next story).
Power Shift in the U.S. Senate
As with the White House, control of the U.S. Senate shifted last week from Democratic to Republican control. At the time of writing, Republicans flipped four seats—in West Virginia (currently held by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin), Montana (currently held by Sen. John Tester), Ohio (currently held by Sen. Sherrod Brown), and Pennsylvania (currently held by Sen. Bob Casey)—for a total of 53 seats. Two Senate races remain uncalled in Arizona and Nevada. Assuming the Democratic candidates win in Arizona and Nevada, as projected, Republicans will have 53 seats to Democrats’ 47. Even if the Republican candidates were to win each of the remaining races, the caucus would still not be able to meet the 60-vote threshold (known as “cloture”) needed to overcome a Senate filibuster. Most legislation will therefore need to have bipartisan support to pass in the Senate.
That said, should Republicans control both Chambers, they will likely use a process known as budget reconciliation to forgo a cloture vote if the legislation under consideration changes spending, revenues, or the debt limit. Policy changes that do not have budget implications cannot be considered through reconciliation. In recent years, Congress used budget reconciliation to pass the Affordable Care Act, the 2017 tax package, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. If Republicans win control of the House of Representatives, we anticipate that the caucus will try to use the reconciliation process to repeal provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and pass new tax legislation in 2025.
Congressional Committee Leadership and Membership Changes
In both the House and the Senate, a number of key members lost their bids for reelection. Others announced their retirements and will be departing at the end of this Congress. Moving into next year, committee rosters will shift as incumbents move around and freshmen members seek new positions. Moreover, the size and party ratios of committees will depend on the final party breakdown once all races are called.
On the Senate Finance Committee, the seat currently held by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will be filled by another member following Sen. Brown’s loss to challenger Bernie Moreno. Senator Brown has been a strong champion for water reuse, spearheading legislation to enact an investment tax credit to support greater industrial water recycling. WateReuse thanks Senator Brown for his leadership on this issue. Moving forward, we will be working to identify new bipartisan leads for this legislation on the Senate Finance Committee.
At least two seats will be opening up on the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over Bureau of Reclamation spending. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) is retiring, and Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) lost his reelection bid. Both senators also serve on the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over EPA spending.
On the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is the authorizing committee for the Bureau of Reclamation, we anticipate that senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) will replace retiring Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) as ranking member of the Committee. We expect Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to replace retiring senator Tom Carper (D-DE) as ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, which is the authorizing committee for the U.S. EPA. Several seats will be opening up on the EPW Committee due to retirements.
In the House of Representatives, control of the chamber had yet to be determined at the time of this writing. We do know, however, that Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-CA) is retiring at the end of the Congress and vacating her seat as Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Water Subcommittee. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN) and John Garamendi (D-CA) are next in line to lead the Subcommittee for the Democrats, though Rep. Cohen would need to give up his leadership position on the Aviation Subcommittee. Several members of the House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee and House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee were still in tight races at the time of writing. Depending on the outcomes of those races, several seats on these important subcommittees may open up. Full committee rosters will not be known until well into next year. | 
