President Donald Trump and his administration have crafted a secret plan to rebuff any incoming liberal Congress should Democrats sweep into power in Tuesday's midterm elections.
Senior White House officials including Stephen Miller, budget director Russell Vought and White House Counsel Will Scharf have been identifying executive actions that could be taken without congressional approval.
The presidential orders are expected to span immigration, federal spending, tariffs, housing policy and more, three officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Scharf, the president's White House attorney, is examining '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,' one White House official said.
Tuesday's congressional and local elections will determine the balance of power in Washington and across states nationwide.
The outcome will determine whether Trump can continue to pass his policy agenda into law with GOP congressional help or if Democrats will loosen the conservative grip on Capitol Hill.
The stakes couldn't be higher, and many of the most critical races are neck-and-neck.
Democrats need to pick up just four seats in the House and the Senate after Tuesday's elections to gain control of both chambers of Congress.
For months White House officials have been preparing secret plans to navigate sharing power with Democrats should they win the midterm elections on Tuesday
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who oversees Trump administration spending, has been closely involved in the plans, Reuters reports
Democrats appear poised to take control of the House and potentially the Senate, though some races are still a toss-up
Prediction market data from Kalshi show Monday afternoon that Democrats have over a 90 percent chance of taking the House and a 75 percent chance of winning the Senate.
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Opinion polls tell a different story for the Senate, with many showing the races are too close to call and the candidates within striking distance.
Trump has worked unilaterally on many occasions, pushing through 292 executive orders during his second term, the highest number since President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He has, for example, pushed the boundaries on tariff authorities, authorizing plans that the Supreme Court later deemed inappropriate.
Should Democrats take both chambers, virtually all legislation sent to the president's desk for his signature will be handcrafted by liberal lawmakers without much, if any, input from GOP lawmakers.
The White House official believes the president could continually issue vetoes for 'a month or two' before striking deals with lawmakers in the other party.
The president has even suggested publicly that would be his strategy.
'I guess I'll become Mr. Veto,' Trump told the New York Post in a recent interview. 'And then at some point, we'll probably make deals.'
'I guess I'll become Mr. Veto,' Trump told the New York Post in a recent interview. 'And then at some point, we'll probably make deals'
Prediction market data from Kalshi show Monday afternoon that Democrats have over a 90 percent chance of taking the House and a 75 percent chance of winning the Senate. Opinion polls tell another story for the Senate, many showing the races are too close to call and the candidates within striking distance of one another
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The president has been read in on the preparations and has taken part in their discussions, one White House official said.
The expectation is that the president will be 'very comfortable' governing alongside a Democratic Congress, one of the sources shared.
Already, federal agencies have submitted proposals of the actions they could take without congressional approval.
As director of the Office of Management and Budget, Vought has overseen efforts to examine how to spend money Congress has already approved for the Trump administration's use, two sources shared.
He reportedly has been working on plans to give political appointees more control over which government programs receive taxpayer funds, a gambit that could give the White House more control without congressional oversight.
'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,' White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement.
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