White House Has Spent Months Mapping How Trump Could Govern Without Congress if Democrats Win, Reuters Reports
President Trump's White House has spent months preparing for a possible Democratic takeover of Congress, identifying actions he could take on his own to keep advancing his agenda, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a White House official and two people familiar with the plans.
According to the report, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and budget director Russell Vought have worked with the White House Counsel's Office since April to find executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing costs and federal spending that would not need congressional approval. The three sources spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both the House and the Senate to overturn Republicans' 218-214 and 53-47 majorities in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to Reuters. Polls favor Democrats to win the House, while the Senate is seen as too close to call.
What the White House Is Weighing
The White House official told Reuters that White House counsel Will Scharf and his team are studying "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."
Actions under consideration include new tariffs on critical minerals and wind turbines, tighter visa rules for international students and temporary foreign workers, and steps aimed at lowering housing and construction costs, the official said. Federal agencies have submitted proposals and legal reviews, one of the sources said.
Vought, whose Office of Management and Budget oversees federal spending, is examining which priorities can move forward with money Congress has already appropriated, and wants to change federal grant rules to give political appointees more say over which programs receive funding, two of the sources told Reuters. The White House also plans to seek Justice Department legal opinions on what Trump can do without Congress, one source said.
The official said Trump has been briefed on the preparations and has taken part in discussions. Asked how comfortable Trump would be governing through executive authority under a Democratic Congress, one source answered, "very comfortable."
The White House pushed back on the prospect of Republican losses. "This 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," spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to Reuters.
What a Democratic Congress Could Still Do
A Democratic Senate could block Trump's judicial and executive-branch nominees, and a Democratic House could refuse to pass legislation he wants, though Trump could veto bills he opposes. Congress can vote to end national emergencies Trump has declared, but overriding a veto takes two-thirds of both chambers.
The report said one thing cannot be sidestepped through executive action: congressional investigations. According to the sources, White House lawyers have been briefing political appointees and agency leaders on how to handle congressional document requests and subpoenas, advising them to be careful about what they put in writing, and have sought a Justice Department opinion that could let Trump invoke executive privilege over communications with private advisers.
The Digital Free Press has not independently confirmed the planning described in the report.
Sources: Reuters, Nandita Bose and Tim Reid, "Trump White House maps path to govern without Congress if Democrats win" (Nov. 1, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-white-house-maps-path-govern-without-congress-if-democrats-win-2026-11-01/ (full text as syndicated by The Business Standard: https://www.tbsnews.net/worldbiz/usa/trump-white-house-maps-path-govern-without-congress-if-democrats-win-1589566 ). Cover photo: North Portico of the White House by Don Ramey Logan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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