Americans vote Tuesday at the end of the most expensive midterm cycle on record. AdImpact projects $11.6 billion in political advertising for the 2025-2026 cycle, more than the $11.2 billion spent in the 2024 presidential cycle. The 50 largest donors and donor groups alone have contributed $2.77 billion, according to Federal Election Commission filings compiled by Al Jazeera.
All of that money produces a great deal of noise, and this year even the polls are suspect. In October, Wedgewood Polls admitted most of its data was fabricated. Median Strategies made a similar admission in August.
For organizations that depend on federal policy, the result on election night matters less than what happens next. The first six months of a new Congress set priorities, staff and relationships for the two years that follow. Organizations that understand that window can use it. Organizations that wait for things to settle often find the window has already closed.
A change in party control does more than move a gavel. The new majority sets committee agendas, controls the hearing calendar and fills most committee staff positions. Historically, the majority party holds roughly two-thirds of committee staff jobs.
That means experienced staff move out and new staff move in, many of them learning their portfolios from scratch. Relationships an organization spent years building can disappear in a matter of weeks.
The private sector reshuffles at the same time. Former congressional staff look for new roles. Government relations firms hire to rebalance their teams. Clients reconsider who represents them.
The result looks a lot like free agency. Everyone is repositioning, and the organizations that move with a clear plan tend to come out ahead.
A new Congress also brings a wave of legislation. In 2025, the first year of the current Congress, members introduced 11,815 bills, according to BillTrack50. Fewer than 1% had a substantive effect on policy.
Many bills are introduced to make a statement, signal a priority or start a conversation. Very few are built to move. Organizations that chase every introduction spend time and budget on legislation that was never going anywhere.
The more productive approach is to know which committees hold jurisdiction over an issue, which offices are positioned to act on it and what a realistic path forward looks like. That knowledge turns a flood of bills into a short list worth attention.
After every election, some organizations try to remake themselves to match the new majority. A burst of late contributions. A new hire with the right party label. Sudden outreach to offices that went unanswered a year earlier.
It rarely works. Political contributions and federal registration filings are public, often going back years. Officials and their staff can see who showed up before the election and who arrived after it.
Washington has a long memory. The latecomer seldom gets the benefit of the doubt, and an abrupt shift can raise more questions than it answers.
Building every relationship on one side of the aisle is a bet. Sometimes it pays off. When it does not, the cost can last for years.
Relationships on both sides work like a diversified portfolio. They protect an organization regardless of which party holds the gavel, and they keep an organization’s issue in front of decision-makers through every change in leadership.
They also reflect where the country is. A record 45% of Americans identified as political independents in 2025, according to Gallup. Customers, employees and communities increasingly expect the organizations they support to work across party lines.
Bipartisanship is not a political stance. It is a business strategy.
Organizations that want to be ready for the next Congress, whatever its makeup, should take five steps now.
Map current relationships. List the offices, committees and agencies that matter to the issue and note where there is no contact today.
Review the public record. Look at the organization’s political contributions and filings the way a skeptical staffer would.
Plan for both outcomes. Write down priorities and asks for a Congress led by either party.
Follow committee jurisdiction, not headlines. Track the bills with a real path forward and set the rest aside.
Build relationships before they are needed. The best time started a year ago. The next best time is the week after the election.
None of these steps requires knowing who will win on Tuesday. That is the point.
The first six months of a new Congress reward preparation and punish improvisation. Organizations that arrive with established relationships on both sides, a clear understanding of committee jurisdiction and a focused ask are positioned to make progress while others are still reorienting.
Shepherd Strategies helps organizations prepare for that transition, from mapping relationships and reviewing their public footprint to building a bipartisan engagement plan for the new Congress. Organizations preparing for the next Congress, or reassessing their approach after the election, can reach out to Shepherd Strategies for strategic help.
