President Donald Trump is preparing to use executive powers to advance his policies if Democrats win the November midterms. Officials have worked since April to identify measures on immigration and tariffs that bypass Congress. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, “This administration will continue to deliver wins for the people.”
US President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to rely more heavily on executive powers to advance its policy priorities if Democrats take control of Congress in the November midterm elections, while also preparing to defend itself against a wave of congressional investigations, Reuters reported.
Since April, senior White House officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, have been working with the White House Counsel’s Office to identify measures Trump could implement without congressional approval, a White House official and two other people familiar with the preparations told Reuters.
The potential measures cover several policy areas, including immigration, tariffs, housing affordability and federal expenditure. White House lawyers are also examining the legal boundaries of presidential authority, including where Trump could test those limits and how his administration could defend its actions against legal challenges, the White House official said.
The preparations highlight the competing consequences of a possible Democratic victory in the midterms. Taking control of Congress would give Democrats greater scope to scrutinise the administration, obstruct its legislative agenda and challenge its spending priorities. However, Trump would retain considerable authority over trade, foreign policy and the federal bureaucracy, areas in which he has already exercised presidential powers extensively during his second term.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to displace Republicans, who currently hold narrow majorities of 218-214 in the House and 53-47 in the Senate. Opinion polls indicate that Democrats are favoured to win the House, while the Senate contest remains too close to call.
Trump has spent the past month campaigning across the country to help Republicans retain control of Congress. At the same time, his aides have been preparing privately for the possibility of a different political landscape when the new Congress takes office in 2027.
The White House has rejected the prospect of Republican losses and criticised media coverage suggesting the party could lose its congressional majorities.
“This administration and commonsense Republicans will continue to secure our borders, restore law and order, put more money back into the pockets of hard-working Americans, and deliver wins for the American people,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said.
Tariffs, immigration and spending plans
Among the measures being considered are additional tariffs on imports of critical minerals and wind turbines, stricter visa requirements for international students and temporary foreign workers, and initiatives intended to reduce housing and construction costs, the White House official said.
Federal agencies have already submitted proposals outlining actions the administration could take independently, accompanied by legal assessments of their viability, one person familiar with the planning said.
Vought is separately examining how the administration could pursue its spending priorities using funds Congress has already approved. The Office of Management and Budget, which he leads, oversees federal expenditure, making his review central to the administration’s efforts to maintain its agenda without new legislation, two of the people said.
Vought also wants to revise the rules governing federal grants to increase the influence of political appointees over the allocation of taxpayer money to government programmes. Such changes could give the White House greater control over federal spending without requiring fresh congressional authorisation, the people said.
Trump has been briefed on the preparations and has participated in discussions about them, according to the White House official.
Asked how comfortable the president would be relying on executive authority under a Democratic-controlled Congress, one person familiar with the plans responded, “very comfortable.”
Trump has already tested presidential authority
Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly used executive powers to pursue policies without waiting for congressional approval or new legislation. His administration has imposed sweeping tariffs, intensified immigration enforcement, reduced the federal workforce and pursued foreign-policy objectives, including the war against Iran.
One significant exception was the president’s major tax-and-spending package, which passed through the Republican-controlled Congress before Trump signed it into law in July 2025.
Nathan Gonzales, editor of Inside Elections, a publication that provides nonpartisan political analysis, said Trump had largely bypassed Congress during the past two years by relying on executive orders and presidential authority.
“President Trump in the last two years has basically ignored Congress and tried to do as much as possible through executive orders and executive power,” Gonzales said. “I think he will only continue if there are Democratic majorities.”
Trump has also repeatedly declared national emergencies to expand his ability to act without additional legislation. Although Congress can vote to terminate such emergencies, the president could veto the decision. Lawmakers would then need two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override his veto.
A Democratic takeover would nevertheless give the party several ways to limit the administration’s room for manoeuvre.
Control of the Senate would allow Democrats to block Trump’s nominees to the federal judiciary and executive branch, potentially including a future Supreme Court nominee.
Andrew Busch, a public policy professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and author of a history of US midterm elections, expects Democrats to take a tougher approach to the president’s appointments.
“I would anticipate they will be very reluctant to approve any of the president’s appointments,” Busch said.
Democrats could also withhold support for legislation backed by Trump. However, the president would retain his veto power over bills he opposes, and Democrats are unlikely to secure the numbers required in the House to override it.
Legal challenges present another potential constraint. Courts could strike down executive measures that exceed the president’s authority. One person familiar with the White House preparations said the administration plans to seek legal opinions from the Justice Department to establish which actions Trump can take independently and how those measures could be defended if challenged in court.
White House prepares for congressional investigations
Beyond policy and legislative disputes, the prospect of congressional investigations presents a separate challenge for the administration.
Reuters previously reported that senior House Democrats and committee aides had discussed using hearings, subpoenas and requests for documents to investigate whether Trump had used his presidential powers to benefit himself, his allies or his donors.
The White House has been preparing for that possibility for months, all three people familiar with the plans said.
White House lawyers have been briefing political appointees and agency heads on how to respond to congressional inquiries, document requests and subpoenas, one of the people said. Officials have also been advised to exercise caution over what they put in writing.
In addition, White House officials sought a Justice Department opinion that could provide grounds for Trump to invoke executive privilege to protect communications with private advisers from congressional scrutiny, the person said.
The preparations reflect the administration’s expectation that a Democratic-controlled Congress could seek to investigate its actions even as Trump attempts to preserve his policy agenda through executive authority.