White House Has Spent Months Preparing to Govern by Executive Power if Democrats Win Congress, Reuters Reports
With control of Congress on the ballot Tuesday, Reuters reported that senior Trump aides have spent months cataloguing executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing and spending that the president could pursue without congressional approval — while also bracing for Democratic investigations they cannot sidestep.
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.
According to Reuters, 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. Among the actions under consideration, Reuters reported, are new tariffs on imports of critical minerals and wind turbines, tighter rules on visas for international students and temporary foreign workers, and measures aimed at lowering housing and construction costs. Budget director Vought is also 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, Reuters reported.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to overturn the Republicans' narrow 218-214 and 53-47 majorities, Reuters reported; opinion polls favor Democrats to win the House, while the Senate remains too close to call. One of the people Reuters cited said Trump would be “very comfortable” governing through executive authority under a Democratic Congress. The one challenge that cannot be sidestepped through executive action, Reuters reported, is congressional investigations: senior House Democrats and committee aides have discussed using hearings, subpoenas and document requests to examine whether Trump has used his presidential power to benefit himself, allies or donors, and Trump aides have been preparing for that prospect for months.
For Essex County voters, the question arrives on Tuesday: New Jersey polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, and the result will decide whether the next two years in Washington run through Congress or, as Reuters described the White House's preparations, around it. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis pushed back on the prospect of Republican losses, telling Reuters the administration and “commonsense Republicans will continue to secure our borders, restore law and order, putting more money back into the pockets of hard-working Americans, and deliver wins for the American people.”
