Democrats’ capture of both the House and Senate puts President Trump’s mining and energy agenda under tighter scrutiny, with Senator Martin Heinrich and Representative Jared Huffman already pressing the Government Accountability Office over conflicts where Washington is both investor and regulator in mining companies. The proposed Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would cap environmental impact reviews at two years, limit litigation to 150 days and set a nine‑month timetable for dredge‑and‑fill permits, directly affecting mine, pipeline and transmission approvals. Wood Mackenzie warns that without such reform, midstream gas bottlenecks could push wholesale US power prices 46% higher by 2035, constraining data centre‑driven copper demand growth.

A new National Audit Office review of 2025–26 departmental annual reports maps how climate change could disrupt UK energy, transport, water and digital infrastructure, focusing on flood, heat and coastal erosion risks. The review assesses whether departments quantify exposure of assets such as rail corridors, trunk roads, substations and water treatment works to extreme rainfall and higher peak temperatures, and how this is reported to Parliament. For engineers, it signals closer scrutiny of asset-level risk data, design allowances and adaptation plans within government-backed infrastructure programmes.

Build UK has released the sixth update of its Common Assessment Standard, tightening Building Safety, Quality and Information Security requirements for the 26,000+ certified companies. Scaffolding and temporary works are now explicitly out of scope of Building Regulations unless they form part of the permanent structure, the Building Safety section has switched from ‘opt in’ to ‘opt out’, and competence questions have moved into a mandatory Quality section. Cyber Essentials Plus no longer grants exemption from Information Security questions, which now require ISO 27001, while fraud prevention, a named quality lead, and a Drugs and Alcohol Policy are compulsory for all suppliers.