This pivotal midterm election year has started with President Trump reveling in his power at home and abroad – but facing unexpected pushback from a previously pliant Congress.
Even as he celebrated his capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and told the New York Times that the only constraint on his power is “his own morality,” Trump was facing a Republican-led Congress showing some newfound independence.
On Thursday, five Republican Senators joined all Democrats to advance a resolution to block Trump from conducting further military action in Venezuela without explicit approval from Congress. Although the resolution is not likely to come up in the House, it reflects growing unease about U.S. plans in Venezuela and concerns about the White House’s designs on Greenland.
The same day, 17 House Republicans bucked their party by voting for a Democratic proposal to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for three years. The subsidies, which expired at the end of 2025, were the source of Democrats’ refusal to support a continuing resolution to re-open the government last fall. It came up only because a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to force a vote on it. The extension’s Senate prospects are unclear, but political pressure to address health care costs may force a resolution sooner rather than later.
Even when the President prevailed in Congress, he endured a sizable number of defections: the House failed to override two Trump vetoes of relatively non-controversial bills, but 35 Republicans voted to reject Trump’s veto of one bill, with 24 voting to negate his rejection of the other.
Coming after last fall’s congressional action to require the Justice Department to release its Jeffrey Epstein files, the much-touted party discipline that Congressional Republicans enjoyed at the start of 2025 seems to be dissipating. Undoubtedly, the looming midterm elections are part of the cause; the party in the White House usually loses ground in the midterms, and Trump’s anemic poll numbers have a lot of GOP lawmakers fearful for their own seats.
But another reason for the slippage in unity is the growing realization that after the midterm elections, Donald Trump will become, for all intents and purposes, a lame duck President (and no, he cannot run for a third term). Even as he seeks to remake the country, and the world, in his image, President Trump is facing the same fate of all two-termers: a party that’s starting to look beyond him to what comes next.
Congress Increases Funding for Preservation
In yet another sign of growing congressional independence from the White House, Senate and House appropriations are moving ahead with fiscal year 2026 funding bills that depart widely from Trump’s budget-cutting proposals.
On Thursday, the House overwhelmingly passed a package of three appropriations bills that cover a range of agencies, including the Department of the Interior. Despite the President’s recommendation to nearly zero out the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), the bill provides roughly $181 million from the Fund to support SHPOs, THPOs and competitive grant programs, nearly $12 million above the previous year’s level.
The bill also rejects the White House’s cuts to the National Park Service’s National Recreation and Preservation program, providing slightly more funding than last year. And despite the administration’s request for less funding for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), which led to the ACHP reducing its staff in 2025, the final bill maintains its previous funding levels.
(If that wasn’t enough, the bill pointedly refers to the “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” declining to give congressional backing to Trump’s handpicked board’s vote to add his name to the venue.)
Congress’ support for the HPF comes after ACRA and other preservation groups lobbied for robust funding and thousands of preservation advocates called on their representatives to support the HPF, including 120 ACRA members who contacted their elected leaders via ACRA’s new alert system. It shows that grassroots action can still make a difference.
The Senate is likely to approve the bill this week, and all indications that the President will sign it to avoid those agencies from shutting down. But as we learned last year, just because Congress approves funding doesn’t mean that the current administration will promptly send it out the door. ACRA and its allies are committed to making sure that SHPOs and THPOs receive the funds Congress appropriates to them in a timely manner.
Permitting Reform on the 2026 Agenda
In late December, the House passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776), which would amend NEPA with the intent of speeding up environmental reviews. Nearly all Republicans voted for the bill, while all but 11 Democrats opposed it.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where discussions over permitting may include Section 106. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on Section 106 last fall. While there was no desire from Committee members to repeal 106, Committee Chairman Mike Lee (R-UT) is reportedly considering drafting legislation to amend it, although no details have been announced.
The outlook for permitting reform is uncertain because Senate Republicans will need the backing of at least seven Democrats to overcome a filibuster. While some Democrats support aspects of permitting reform, discussions have faltered because of Trump administration actions to block renewable energy projects.
Regardless of permitting reform’s prospects, ACRA and its partners in the preservation community, along with its champions in Congress, are working to ensure that any permitting reform bill the Hill considers does not undermine the 106 process.
CEQ Finalizes Removal of NEPA Regulations
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) finalized its interim rule eliminating its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Last April, CEQ announced it would remove its NEPA regulations, following two court decisions that found CEQ lacked the statutory authority to issue such rules. Soon after, a host of federal agencies announced plans to amend their NEPA regulations in response to CEQ, and to a subsequent Supreme Court decision narrowing NEPA’s scope.
Although CEQ’s rule does not alter the NEPA statute itself, nor does it change individual agencies’ NEPA implementing rules, the move is one of the most significant changes in how the federal government addresses the environmental impacts of its actions in decades.
ACRA had submitted comments to the CEQ last year opposing its intent to eliminate its NEPA rules.
Make Your Voice Heard at Preservation Advocacy Week
With Congress beginning to exert more independence and looking to debate permitting reform and other proposals that could affect CRM, it’s more important than ever that ACRA members meet with their elected representatives.
By joining forces with Preservation Action at the 2026 National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week, ACRA members can join their preservation colleagues in speaking with a unified voice on Capitol Hill. The event also feature variety of preservation and policy professionals discussing issues affecting historic preservation, exclusive local tours, networking opportunities and more.
We hope that you and other members of your firm can make plans to join us in March to make a difference for CRM. Learn more and register today here!