Houston CFOs Keep Plans Steady After Democratic Sweep
At a CFO Alliance roundtable the morning after the midterms, Houston finance leaders said they would keep budgeting and stress testing rather than halt hiring or spending.
Houston finance chiefs do not plan to change course. The morning after the midterms, they said they would stick to routine planning, according to the leader of the CFO Alliance, a professional networking group.
Tariffs, taxes and oil
On tariffs, the group said modeling would not change. They expect the White House to fight hard for them for some period.
Tax changes look off the table under divided government, said Nick Araco Jr., the alliance's founder and CEO. One CFO called that a certainty to plan around.
On oil, nobody said it outright, Araco said, but the inference was there that Congress could take a stand on the Iran war. Vice President JD Vance said the war explained the Republican results. The CFOs did not speak as oil and gas stakeholders. Their attitude was that lower oil helps every profit-and-loss statement other than oil and gas's.
Shutdown risk
Government shutdown risk worried them. A number of members sell to the government or rely on government data or capital, and they are planning for delays now, not in December.
Some were skeptical that Washington will work together. The first test may come on Dec. 11, when the current temporary funding bill expires.
What they will do on Monday
Asked about next Monday, the executives said the same as every November: check credit lines, rerun the 2027 budget under different scenarios and speak plainly to everyone. Pressed on hiring and capital spending, they said they might slow down and stress test, but not stop anything.
Araco noted that the midmarket has no lobbyists and tends to feel policy changes later, but has less cushion when it does. One CFO said they would take boring and predictable over bold and unpredictable.
A Texas-sized shift
Araco said the state-level change may matter more day to day than the shift in Washington. Since the new governor has floated a pause on new data center projects, energy and data center choices are open again.
Texas was arguably ground zero of the Democratic wave. Democrat James Talarico took a US Senate seat from Republican Ken Paxton in a state Donald Trump had carried by double digits just two years earlier. The state also elected Gina Hinojosa as its first Democratic governor in 30 years, according to the Associated Press.
Araco led the roundtable on Wednesday at Houston's Royal Oaks Country Club. Those at the table ran finance at midmarket companies, public and private, and at non-profits. Trump's name never came up, Araco said, though he inferred that the president's power, and the check on it from the midterms, was an unspoken presence.
Casey Janick, an operating partner at the CFO Alliance, said the election changed the political landscape overnight. He had no political conversations with clients until two to four weeks ago.
Source: CFO Dive