US — The Verge

Tech is about to get hammered in Congress

PolicyNovember 5, 20262 min read

Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. Tech companies and their bosses are now likely to face tough questions and investigations in Congress next year.

Democrats plan to take on Big Tech

After Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate, they are set to take over the leadership of many committees in January. Leaders of those committees say they plan to call tech CEOs to testify, look hard at AI and data centers, and investigate Elon Musk's government cuts. Some Democrats posted that they would issue many subpoenas. A subpoena is a legal order that forces someone to appear or hand over documents.

Key facts

Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate on Tuesday.
Democrats are expected to control committee chairs starting in January.
Rep. Greg Casar wants AI company CEOs to testify under oath.
Democrats already held a 'shadow' hearing on the Live Nation-Ticketmaster antitrust case while they were in the minority.
Raskin asked Amazon, Google, Meta, and Oracle about nondisclosure agreements tied to data center proposals.

Why Musk is a target

Elon Musk spent record amounts to help elect Republicans in this cycle. He also served as the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the second Trump administration. DOGE cut federal jobs and helped shut down USAID, the country's soft diplomacy agency. Democrats say they want to look at his conflicts of interest and his reported role in disrupting Starlink service to Ukraine.

Why this matters

Big Tech has faced little direct pressure from Congress in recent years. With Democrats in charge of key committees, companies like AI makers, data center builders, and social media firms may face more hearings, subpoenas, and new rules. This could change how tech companies deal with lawmakers and how the government watches the industry.

What to watch

Whether committees call AI company CEOs to testify under oath.
How many subpoenas are sent to tech companies and the Trump administration.
Whether new rules on AI and data centers move forward.
Whether Democrats launch formal investigations into Musk's DOGE role.

Glossary

DOGE: The Department of Government Efficiency, a group led publicly by Elon Musk in the second Trump administration that cut federal jobs.
Starlink: A satellite internet service run by SpaceX, a company led by Elon Musk.

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