With most of the vote from Tuesday’s midterm elections counted, the result is crystal clear: Democrats won a generational victory, seizing comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress, as well as a majority of governorships and hundreds of state legislative seats across the country. Their projected final popular vote margin of 12-14 points is the largest in more than fifty years.
Not surprisingly, the national trend held up in reliably blue New York, where Governor Kathy Hochul easily secured a second full term and Democrats up and down the ticket celebrated victories. It was a very good night for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani too: NYC voters approved all five initiatives on the ballot, and a number of candidates identifying as democratic socialists won election to Congress.
Now the question is what this all will mean for the workforce field in NYC and beyond. We offer six observations.
1. This wasn’t a “workforce election” per se. But it could turn out to be a very good election for workforce issues.
The easiest way to understand the 2026 midterms is that voters were primarily motivated by economic distress, in particular stubbornly high prices for fuel and other necessities, and frustration that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress did not seem focused on delivering help. They will be looking for action from the incoming Democratic majorities, and workforce policy belongs at the center of that response.
Affordability depends on what people earn and what things cost. Connecting someone to a job means little if that job doesn’t pay enough to cover rent and food, requires hours that change every week, or offers no opportunity to advance. More effective workforce policies must measure success beyond placement: higher pay, consistent schedules, benefits, and a real path forward. Those are tangible returns on public investment—and a way to rebuild confidence that the government can deliver for working people.
One major Democratic priority–to reverse cuts to Medicaid and restore subsidies to access healthcare under the Affordable Care Act–has significant labor market implications. Medicaid work requirements scheduled to take effect in January threaten to both leave more Americans without health coverage, and to further strain the workforce system as recipients attempt to record enough hours in job search or related activities to remain on the rolls. Between Democrats’ Senate majority falling short of the 60 votes required to break a filibuster, and the prospect of a presidential veto blocking any attempt to undo the cuts, prospects of short-term action are dubious. Meanwhile, low-income workers and service providers will grapple with the tension between demanding that people work to be eligible for healthcare coverage, and denying them coverage that helps keep them healthy enough for steady employment.
Another question is whether the advent of divided government might spur job growth. The logic, as set forth by Harvard Business School professor Vincent Pons, is that congressional majorities can check a president of the opposing party, ensuring more predictable policies that could render businesses more confident in making investments and consumers more willing to spend. In New York City and elsewhere, this could lead to new employer commitments to hire, train, and promote workers.
2. The Republican-led threat to WIOA funding is almost certainly over.
In both federal budget cycles since President Trump returned to office, his administration has proposed devastating cuts to federal workforce investments, focusing on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Thanks in large part to determined advocacy and a critical mass of reluctant Republicans in Congress, those cuts were rejected in 2025 and were quickly dismissed this year as the midterms approached. The administration’s other disruptive workforce proposals, including combining WIOA and a dozen workforce programs into a block grant and ending programs such as Job Corps, are also all but off the table.
As Congressman John Mannion discussed on the NYC Workforce Drop, defending federal workforce investment takes sustained advocacy and congressional partners willing to fight for it. That work must continue—and so must the push to ensure these investments deliver better jobs, higher wages, and opportunities to advance.
3. Rethinking WIOA: The Case for Something Better?
Over the next two years, both the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee are likely to focus on undoing the Trump administration’s deep cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies, Medicaid, and other social safety net programs passed in 2025’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and reversing the president’s moves to dismantle the federal Department of Education. It remains to be seen whether the midterm results will lead to a revival of the A Stronger Workforce for America (ASWA) Act, which would have reauthorized WIOA and largely continued federal workforce policy on its established path of prioritizing job placement with little regard for quality or workers’ economic mobility. ASWA was on track to pass into law as part of a budget reconciliation measure in December 2024, until Republicans removed it from the bill. Early indications from initiatives like National Skills Coalition’s A New Promise of Work suggest that the field is interested in a broader reconsideration of workforce issues.
4. Personnel drives policy—so keep an eye on two key congressional committees.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), currently the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, strongly supported ASWA. Scott works well with outgoing chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), who won his re-election bid; if they effectively switch roles, they could push to revive ASWA as a rare bipartisan measure. Scott is likely to face a challenge for the gavel, however, from Reps. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). In Senate HELP, meanwhile, democratic socialist icon Bernie Sanders has served as ranking member and is likely to become chair if he chooses to pursue it. The outgoing chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), lost his primary earlier this year, and several other Republican committee members, including Susan Collins (R-ME) and Roger Marshall (R-KS), were defeated on Tuesday. As the most senior Republican left on the committee, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is poised to become the ranking member. Committee leadership elections will take place and full membership lists will be finalized in November and December.
5. With federal stalemate likely, the real action could be in Albany.
It’s not impossible to imagine President Trump finding common ground with two fellow New Yorkers, presumptive House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries and likely Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. As a historically bipartisan issue, workforce could emerge as a point of consensus, with ASWA as a starting point. But given the vast ideological divide between the two parties and the backdrop of Democratic investigations targeting the president and administration—not to mention the start of the 2028 presidential election cycle—the odds are against any major new policy over the next two years. Energy for reform may be better focused at the state level, where a re-elected Governor Hochul and even larger Democratic legislative majorities will set the agenda. Priority workforce issues are likely to include childcare expansion, worker protections, artificial intelligence, and investments in economic development.
6. The Mamdani administration is now in the spotlight.
Mayor Mamdani’s political brand emerged stronger than ever from the midterms, as local candidates he supported racked up win after win and staunchly progressive Democrats won or outperformed expectations. With Mamdani’s gifts as a political strategist and communicator again confirmed, the focus will shift to his performance in office. As the Fiscal Year 2028 budget cycle begins, the mayor will face pressure to implement more of his affordability agenda and clarify his priorities on new issues such as education. Workforce development continues to offer potential to boost earning power, raise job quality, and find common ground with private-sector stakeholders—and, potentially, contrast with the gridlock that Washington, DC is likely to produce.