With the possibility of losing control of Congress in the upcoming midterms, the Trump administration has been quietly laying the groundwork to bypass legislators entirely. Senior officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and budget director Russell Vought, have spent months vetting executive actions that would allow the President to move forward on immigration, trade tariffs, and federal spending without seeking formal approval. By consulting with the White House Counsel's Office, the administration is mapping out exactly how far they can stretch executive authority while preemptively crafting legal defenses for the inevitable court challenges that would follow.

While the White House remains publicly confident in Republican victory, the internal strategy reflects a clear contingency for a divided government. If Democrats take charge, they would possess the power to launch aggressive investigations into the administration’s activities and block key judicial appointments, creating a significant roadblock for Trump's policy agenda. To counter this, Trump’s team is preparing to rely on veto power and creative use of existing federal grant rules to maintain influence over spending, signaling that the administration is prepared to double down on unilateral power to achieve its goals throughout the remainder of his term.