Trump's White House Has Spent Months Mapping How to Govern Without Congress if Democrats Win on Tuesday
Executive actions on tariffs, immigration, housing and spending have been under legal review since April, Reuters reports — and so have preparations for the investigations a Democratic Congress would bring.
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, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing 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 worked 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. White House counsel Will Scharf and his team are also reviewing 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.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the House as well as the Senate to overturn Republicans' narrow 218-214 and 53-47 majorities; opinion polls favor Democrats to win the House, while the Senate remains too close to call, according to Reuters. Among the executive actions under consideration are new tariffs on imports of critical minerals and wind turbines, tighter visa rules for international students and temporary foreign workers, and measures aimed at lowering housing and construction costs. Vought is examining which priorities can move forward using money already appropriated by Congress, and White House lawyers have briefed appointees on how to handle congressional inquiries, document requests and subpoenas. For Tallahassee, a state capital whose economy runs on government, which party holds Congress — and how much governing moves to executive action — is a hometown question as much as a national one.
