Corporate America Urged to Unify Communications and Government Affairs Ahead of Midterms
As midterm elections approach, corporate communications and government affairs teams must work together to navigate a divided Washington, according to a new analysis. The data center industry's recent struggles illustrate the cost of keeping these functions separate.
As the midterm elections approach, corporate America faces a familiar temptation: assuming that a shift in congressional power means a shift in the entire regulatory landscape. But a new analysis warns that companies risk repeating costly mistakes if they treat a Democratic Congress as a Democratic Washington. The lesson comes from the data center industry, which learned the hard way that winning permits and political support is not the same as winning over the public.
Data center companies had secured permits, agency approvals, and even a presidential warning that towns rejecting them would end up «backwards and poor.» Yet local communities, feeling overlooked, played a key role in slowing 40% of data centers that were due to open this year. The industry's government affairs teams had spent years cultivating relationships with state and federal agencies and elected officials at every level. Corporate communications, however, was largely left out of the loop until it was too late. The result was a stark reminder that regulatory victories can be undone by public opposition.
With polls suggesting Democrats could sweep Congress next month, the analysis argues that companies must avoid the trap of mistaking a congressional flip for a total loss of executive power. History shows that presidents retain significant leverage even when their party loses control of Congress. After Republicans lost Congress in 2006, President George W. Bush still ordered the surge in Iraq and lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling in 2008. President Barack Obama pushed through an immigration order, the Iran nuclear deal, and Title IX guidance on gender identity after Republicans took Congress in 2014. And President Joe Biden's Federal Trade Commission continued suing corporations into his final days in office.
President Donald Trump's record offers a particularly clear example. After losing the House in 2018, he did not pivot to the center. Instead, he presided over a 35-day government shutdown and declared a national emergency to fund the border wall. The analysis notes that Trump will make deals, but on his own terms, and agencies will be his strongest leverage. Any plan that assumes he will spend two years as a quiet lame duck is hoping for a president who has never existed.
Voters, too, have not changed sides. Voting for Democrats does not make voters card-carrying members of the party. The party in the White House has gained House seats just four times in midterm elections since 1900, meaning even modest losses are normal. Big losses, however, will be driven by the most apolitical of issues: the economy, where the Iran war and tariffs have raised costs at gas stations and grocery stores across the country.
This environment demands that corporate communications and government affairs teams work hand in hand. The analysis points to several issues that will require a unified approach. On DEI, corporations had already backed off controversial aspects with modest pushback, but Trump's early 2025 executive orders put the issue back in the spotlight. Government contractors were especially hard hit as words like «equity» were erased from websites — good for contracts but damaging for employee relations, as many felt diversity had been traded for profit. If Democrats call contractors to testify or accuse them publicly of racist behavior, lobbying alone will not solve the problem. Corporate communications must build trust with all stakeholders, especially minority partners, investors, and employees, before the hearing notice arrives.
Immigration presents another challenge. Hotel chains have faced pressure over lodging ICE agents. In January, the General Services Administration removed a Minneapolis-area hotel from federal lodging programs after a franchise refused agents rooms. Weeks later, protesters occupied a Manhattan Hilton lobby over the opposite complaint. The chains largely shook off these local controversies, often by issuing statements and then going quiet. But that may be impossible once Congress is involved. Navigating these waters will require government affairs relationships with committees and agencies, combined with corporate communications' understanding of customers, employees, and franchise owners.
The post-election plan, therefore, needs to be a single playbook built by both teams. It must map where the company is vulnerable, where it has leverage, and which of today's allies could become tomorrow's critics. Government affairs teams know the regulators, agency staff, and appointees who will matter no matter who wins. Corporate communications staff know the customers, employees, and communities who will judge whatever the company says. A message written for one group will be read by the other, so it has to be the same story every time.
The analysis concludes with a warning: Democrats were supposed to be irrelevant after 2004 and 2024, and the GOP likewise after 2012 and 2020 — and, allegedly, 2026. Voters who want more money in their pockets and data centers nowhere near their backyards will not be swayed by party labels alone. Companies that fail to align their communications and government affairs strategies risk finding themselves on the wrong side of both Washington and the public.
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