Trump White House Maps a Path to Govern Without Congress if Democrats Win, Reuters Reports

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 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 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. 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. Among the 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, whose Office of Management and Budget oversees federal spending, is examining which priorities can move forward using money already appropriated by Congress, and wants to change federal grant rules to give political appointees more say over which programs receive taxpayer money.

The planning underscores a paradox of Tuesday's midterm elections. Capturing Congress would give Democrats the power to investigate Trump, block legislation and constrain his spending priorities, and control of the Senate would let them block judicial and executive-branch nominees. But Trump would retain broad executive authority over trade, foreign policy and the federal bureaucracy. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both chambers to overturn Republicans' narrow 218-214 House and 53-47 Senate majorities; opinion polls favor Democrats to win the House, while the Senate remains too close to call. One challenge cannot be sidestepped through executive action: congressional investigations. House lawyers have been briefing political appointees and agency leaders on how to handle congressional inquiries, document requests and subpoenas, and the White House pushed back on the prospect of Republican losses, with spokeswoman Lauren Bis saying the administration and Republicans will continue to secure the borders and deliver wins for the American people.