The 2024 election brought a new political landscape to Washington. As Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and the White House, they have begun to outline priorities across the federal government. While Republicans do control the Congress and the White House, Democrats will continue to play a significant role in policymaking since almost every piece of legislation will require Democratic support to advance through the Senate—guaranteeing that bipartisanship will continue to guide much of the legislative process in Congress.
A broad portfolio of policy initiatives will define the early months of the Trump Administration. For many businesses, this looming policy shift will bring some positive opportunities and some new challenges to small businesses.
Tax Policy
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed into law during President Trump’s first term in the White House. The legislation was drafted in a way that made many business tax provisions permanent but made individual tax provisions (including those impacting LLCs and pass-through entities) temporary.
Both Congress and President Trump have highlighted tax policy as a core economic priority in 2025. They will use budget reconciliation—a budget tool that will allow Republicans to pass a tax bill without Democratic votes—to advance tax legislation. This process has recently started and will evolve in the weeks and months ahead.
Deregulation
President Trump has, again, prioritized reducing regulatory burdens for businesses. The White House will likely pause and review regulations from the Biden Administration that have yet to be finalized. For those regulations recently created by the Biden Administration that Republicans have concerns with, Congress is actively working to reverse them through the Congressional Review Act. Reducing the regulatory burden on small businesses will be a priority going forward and there are opportunities to advance policies both administratively and through Congress.
Minimum Wage
The current minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour. There is a broad campaign to increase the minimum wage to $15, but Republicans in Congress and a new Trump Administration are unlikely to advance that policy outside of broader policy changes.
Tariffs on Imported Products
President Trump has positioned tariffs as core to his economic policy and there has been more activity around initiated new tariffs than any other policy space thus far. The Administration is at a critical point as they begin to negotiate agreements with individual countries around reciprocal tariffs. Policymakers, markets and voters have all expressed concerns about potential price increases and broader impacts on U.S. companies that rely on imports. This will be a significant priority for the White House with increasing input from Republicans in Congress who are hoping to have these negotiations finalized in the near-term.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation
Policymakers in the House and Senate have a bipartisan interest in creating some guidelines around AI technologies. While regulating this space may be difficult, there is a growing interest among policymakers to produce guidelines or guard rails going forward. This process may be slow given the difficulty in getting everyone on board with a single proposal.
Cybersecurity
Congress and the Trump Administration will likely continue the current focus around cybersecurity. As cyber threats continue to evolve, countering those threats in both the private and public sectors will be a priority, as it has been with the Biden Administration. It is possible that new funding opportunities may emerge related to cybersecurity as well.
Funding Uncertainty
Annual federal funding debates have become increasingly uncertain—both in funding levels and timing. The Fiscal Year 2025 funding legislation was delayed into next year, for example. For small businesses, the difficult funding process may have some impact on grants and loans through the Small Business Administration (SBA) or other agencies. Funding bills have increasingly been delayed in recent years and funding levels are likely to remain flat or shrink under a House and Senate controlled by fiscally conservative Republicans.
New! GTIA Channel Economic Tracker: Download NowCharles Cooper is managing partner and founder of Brumidi Group, a non-partisan consulting firm focused on public policy and politics.
