Overview of the 119th Congress and New Administration Agency Leadership
In January, the Trump administration officially took office and the 119th Congress began their new session. This month, efforts to begin legislating and regulating are underway, as Congress finalizes its committee rosters and the Senate works to confirm President Trump’s nominees for federal-agency leadership. The following highlights important personnel information for relevant Congressional committees and federal agencies that will steer policy impacting TCIA members.
119th Congress
The 119th Congress convened on January 3. Republicans have slim majorities in both the House and Senate. When they convened, House Republicans held a 219-215 majority, though the majority will be even slimmer for the next couple of months as special elections are underway to fill the vacated seats of Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL). Depending on when Stefanik and Waltz vacate their seats, House Republicans could face a one-vote majority, meaning they could not afford to lose any Republican votes on any bill.
In the Senate, Republicans won a 53-47 majority during the 2024 election, though their majority has slimmed as well. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was nominated to serve as secretary of state, and JD Vance resigned from the Senate to serve as Trump’s vice president, leaving the Republican majority at 51 votes. Regardless, Republicans still hold the majority in the Senate, though their slim majority requires bipartisanship to pass most legislation, as they’ll need 60 votes to bypass a potential filibuster.
Soon after the 119th Congress convened, Republicans and Democrats finalized their committee leadership and assigned committee rosters. Of relevance to TCIA, the House Education & Workforce (E&W) Committee will be led by Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will be led by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Walberg is the new Republican Labor and Education Committee leader for the House committee, while Scott, Cassidy and Sanders each led their parties in the House E&W and Senate HELP committees in the 118th Congress.
Workforce-development legislation is likely to be a priority for both the House and Senate committees. In the 118th Congress, a bill to reauthorize the country’s primary federal workforce-development legislation – the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) – appeared ready to pass both chambers with bipartisan support, but last-minute holds on the bill from an outgoing Democratic senator stalled all efforts to pass the legislation. In the 119th Congress, we expect Republican leaders Walberg and Cassidy to prioritize passing a WIOA reauthorization bill, though when this would happen remains uncertain.
The Trump administration
Soon after the election, President Trump announced several nominations for key federal-agency leadership positions. If confirmed, his nominees will have oversight over the actions taken by the agency and will steer regulatory action and guidance for several important policy issues.
At the Department of Labor (DOL), President Trump nominated Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as secretary of labor. Chavez-DeRemer was a U.S. representative from Oregon in the House of Representatives during the 118th Congress, where she served on the Education & Workforce Committee; however, she ultimately lost her reelection bid during the 2024 election. While serving as DOL secretary, Chavez-DeRemer will have oversight over important regulations that TCIA has been monitoring closely, including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA’s) tree care standard and heat-injury-and-illness-prevention standard.
On the immigration front, Trump nominated South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If confirmed, Noem would oversee important immigration programs that TCIA members utilize to hire foreign workers, including the H-2B visa program and the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. It is unknown how Noem would approach or possibly alter these programs once heading the agency, although Trump’s campaign vows to secure the border and target illegal immigration could indicate possible changes to other nonimmigrant programs like the H-2B or TPS programs.
At the Department of Agriculture, Trump nominated Brooke Rollins to serve as secretary. Rollins served as a policy advisor during Trump’s first term, during which her portfolio included agriculture policy. Notably, the Department of Agriculture houses the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which received $1.5 billion in funding through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for its Urban & Community Forestry (UCF) program to distribute grants for tree-maintenance
and -planting projects nationwide. Given the IRA was a Democrat-championed bill, funding for the UCF program from the bill could be threatened to be pulled back in the Republican-controlled Congress and White House. Rollins could oversee such efforts while serving as secretary of agriculture.
With the new Congress and the Trump administration only beginning to take action, TCIA will keep members apprised of relevant policy updates as they occur.
Bailey Graves is a senior associate with Ulman Public Policy, TCIA’s Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and lobbying partner.