Trump White House maps path to govern without Congress if Democrats win

President Donald Trump’s White House has spent months preparing for a possible Democratic takeover of Congress, developing plans to keep advancing major parts of his agenda through executive power while bracing for investigations of his administration, according to a White House official and two people familiar with the plans.

Senior officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and budget director Russell Vought, have been working with the White House Counsel’s Office since April to identify executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing costs and federal spending that Trump could pursue without congressional approval, said the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

White House counsel Will Scharf and his team are also looking at “what Trump can legally do on his own, where he could push the limits of his authority and how to defend those decisions in court”, the White House official said.

The planning underscores a paradox of Tuesday’s midterm elections: capturing control of Congress would give Democrats the power to investigate Trump, block legislation and constrain his spending priorities.

But Trump would retain broad executive authority over trade, foreign policy and the federal bureaucracy that he has already used aggressively during his second term.

Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the US House of Representatives as well as the US Senate to overturn Republicans’ narrow 218-214 and 53-47 majorities. Opinion polls favour Democrats to win the House, while the Senate remains too close to call.

For the past month, Trump has held rallies across the country trying to preserve Republican control of Congress, even as his aides privately prepare for a very different political landscape in 2027.

The White House pushed back on the prospect of Republican losses and accused the media of promoting a false narrative.