Post-Midterm Playbook: 4 Passive Income Dividend Stocks to Buy After Democrats Took Congress
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Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the midterms, and the White House stays in Republican hands (Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate, while the White House remains under Republican control). Divided government usually means gridlock. Wholesale tax revisions, major new spending programs, and major regulatory reforms get harder to pass, so policy-dependent trades lose some appeal. That favors companies whose cash flows don’t depend on new legislation, and the four dividend payers below fit that profile. They span midstream energy, net-lease real estate, steel and AI networking. The anchor of the group is Realty Income (NYSE: O), which recently announced its 116th consecutive quarterly dividend increase.
Enterprise Products Partners: 1.9x Coverage Behind a Near-6% Yield
Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD | EPD Price Prediction) yields 5.98% at a unit price of $37.40. That puts it at the top of the high-yield range. The partnership declared a quarterly distribution of $0.56 per unit ($2.24 annualized), up 2.8% from a year earlier.
Dividend safety: Distributable cash flow from operations climbed 27% year-over-year to $2.3 billion in the third quarter. That covered the payout 1.9x and left $1.1 billion of retained cash flow to reinvest. Over the 12 months ended September 30, distributions and buybacks used 54% of adjusted cash flow from operations. Net leverage stood at 2.9x, within the target range of 2.7x to 3.25x, and about 96% of the debt is fixed-rate. The record of quarterly payouts runs back to 1999, and the quarterly amount rose from $0.45 in 2021 to $0.56 in 2026.
In Washington, a Democratic Congress could hold more oversight hearings on fossil fuel exports and emissions. Binding new rules would still need a Republican president’s signature, though, so the partnership’s tax structure and operating framework will probably stay as they are. Export demand runs on global contracts more than on Capitol Hill: LPG export capacity is about 90% contracted through the end of the decade.
Bull case: Enterprise has $6.3 billion of growth projects under construction through 2028. It also raised its forecast for Permian wet gas and NGL production growth from 2025 to 2030 to 34%. Randy Fowler summed it up on the call: “We have a confident outlook.”
Risk: Fowler said 2027 could be more modest than 2026, depending on geopolitics and whether price spreads across the system hold up.
Realty Income: Monthly Income With Plenty of AFFO Cushion
Realty Income pays its dividend monthly and yields 5.18%. Its latest declared monthly dividend is $0.274 per share.
Dividend safety: For a REIT, coverage is measured against adjusted funds from operations (AFFO). Third-quarter AFFO came in at $1.12 per share, while dividends paid for the quarter amounted to $0.813 per share. Full-year AFFO guidance rose to $4.45 to $4.46, well above the annualized dividend of $3.258. Management said the AFFO payout ratio is “among the lowest it has been in the history of Realty Income.” Fitch rates the company ‘A’ with a Stable Outlook. Net debt runs at 5.4x annualized pro forma adjusted EBITDA, and more than 94% of pro-rata debt is fixed rate. The September raise was its 136th increase since its 1994 NYSE listing.
Washington angle: REIT tax treatment is set in existing law, and gridlock lowers the odds anyone reopens it. Interest rates matter more for this stock than any bill does, and budget disputes can move Treasury yields. Realty Income is also less exposed to U.S. policy than it used to be: Europe made up 42% of proportional investment volume in the third quarter.
Bull case: Occupancy is 98.8%, and the company has effectively prefunded its $10 billion investment target at a spread of about 170 basis points. It also cut its credit-loss estimate to about 30 basis points.
Risk: Interest coverage is just 1.42. Growth depends on raising capital, so a jump in borrowing costs would squeeze the spread that funds future dividend increases.
Nucor: Free Cash Flow Backs a 214-Quarter Dividend Streak
Nucor (NYSE: NUE) yields 0.87% at $259.51. Its income case rests on strength and total return. The current yield is modest. The company declared a $0.56 quarterly dividend, its 214th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.
Dividend safety: Third-quarter free cash flow reached $1.607 billion, up 202.1%. Year-to-date free cash flow is about $2.7 billion, and the company has returned nearly $1.4 billion, or 42% of net earnings. Nucor has committed to returning at least 40% of net earnings every year. Cash stood at $3.467 billion, and debt was 23% of capital. The quarterly payout rose from $0.51 in 2023 to $0.56 in 2026.
Washington angle: Infrastructure money has already been allocated, so gridlock doesn’t stop it. Management said over $135 billion of IIJA funding was still unspent as of August. Trade enforcement is run mostly by the executive branch, so the import protections management credits should stay in place no matter who controls Congress.
Bull case: Capital spending should fall in 2027 as the West Virginia sheet mill ramps up, freeing up cash. Chief executive Leon Topalian put it: “That money is not burning a hole in our pocket, and if we don’t have a great use for it, you’re going to get it back.”
Risk: Steel is cyclical. With a beta of 1.815, the shares swing far more than the other three names here.
Cisco Systems: AI Networking Cash Flow Funds a Rising Payout
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) yields 1.65% at $99.36. Its next quarterly dividend of $0.42 is payable January 20, 2027.
Dividend safety: In its fiscal first quarter, Cisco returned $3.7 billion, or 95% of free cash flow. That included $1.7 billion in dividends. Operating cash flow rose 35.7% to $4.357 billion, and the company holds $15.8 billion in cash and investments. Payouts date back to 2011, and the quarterly amount climbed from $0.35 in 2019 to $0.42 in 2026.
In Washington, a Democratic Congress may push harder on oversight of tech, privacy and AI. Federal cybersecurity spending, however, has bipartisan support, and Cisco’s public sector product orders grew 13%. Gridlock also keeps the corporate tax framework steady, which helps a company that funds large buybacks.
Bull case: Cisco raised its fiscal 2027 guidance to revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $5.47 to $5.53. It now expects $9 billion of AI infrastructure revenue. The stock trades at about 19x forward earnings.
Risk: Management cited a higher hardware mix and elevated memory costs as pressures on gross margin. The shares fell 13.66% over the past month.
Gridlock-Proof Income Across Four Sectors
These four businesses earn their dividends from demand that doesn’t depend on passing new laws: Permian volumes for Enterprise, contractual rent for Realty Income, money already set aside for infrastructure at Nucor, and AI networking spending at Cisco. Enterprise and Realty Income supply high current yield. Nucor and Cisco add faster-growing payouts, backed by plenty of free cash flow. In a divided Washington, that combination of coverage and steady cash generation supports income that holds up without new legislation.
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Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad, diverse career, including a stint as creative services director at an NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry.
Lee Jackson's journey in the financial industry spans more than 30 years, including nearly two decades as an institutional equity salesperson at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. His career spanned pivotal sell-side Wall Street events, from the dot-com rise and bubble to the Long-Term Capital Management debacle, 9/11, and the Great Recession of 2008. This reflects his resilience and adaptability amid market volatility.
Lee Jackson’s practical financial industry experience, gained through a career at some of the biggest banks and brokerage firms, is complemented by a lifetime of writing across various platforms. This unique combination allows him to shed light on the intricacies of Wall Street in a way only someone with deep insider experience and knowledge can. Moreover, his extensive network across Wall Street continues to provide direct access for him and 24/7 Wall St., a privilege few firms enjoy.
Since 2012, Jackson’s work for 24/7 Wall St. has been featured in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Business Insider, TradingView, Real Money, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and other media outlets. He attended the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and has a degree in broadcasting from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.
