What Trump could still do if Democrats win House and Senate in the midterms

Left · 1CBC News reported that Republicans are heading into the November US midterm elections under mounting pressure to defend their House majority, as Democrats make gains in several key races. 1 Left · 1If Democrats won both the House and the Senate, CBC said, they would gain tools to investigate the Trump administration, challenge its policies and shape which legislation moves forward. 1 Left · 1In a podcast discussion, CBC Washington correspondents Katie Simpson, Willy Lowry and Paul Hunter argued that a change in Congress does not necessarily change the president's ability to act, because Trump has relied on executive orders, emergency declarations and national-security declarations. 1

Left · 1Hunter cited Trump's war in Iran, the removal of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, tariffs (some reversed, some still challenged) and a challenge to birthright citizenship that was overturned in the courts but is back before them. 1 Left · 1Hunter said Democrats could pursue investigations, subpoenas to Trump's family and business associates, or impeachment, but that this would be mostly optics and he was not convinced it would slow Trump outside the legislative agenda, which would be paralysed. 1 Left · 1Simpson said the court system is currently the only real check on Trump's power, and Lowry said Congress has been largely irrelevant except during government shutdowns and over the Epstein files. 1

Left · 1Simpson said Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham at a midterm convention in Dallas, 'I'm going to become a blocker', meaning he would veto legislation he opposes while continuing to use executive powers, particularly on tariffs and foreign policy. 1 Left · 1In an opinion column for Raw Story, Robert Reich wrote that he allows himself to believe that 'sane people' may control Congress from next January, and that congressional Republicans will get their 'comeuppance' for loyalty to Trump, while acknowledging that polls have disappointed Democrats before. 2 Left · 1Reich warned that the end of what he called a 'daymare' could come 'unless Trump goes full-throttled dictator and prevents votes for Democrats in the Senate and House from being certified'; he offered no evidence that Trump plans to do so. 2

Left · 1Reich argued that Trump's rise stems from economic anger over decades of wealth flowing to the top, which Trump channelled toward scapegoats, and said a Democratic win would only let progressives lay a foundation for policies such as Medicare for all, universal childcare and higher taxes on the very wealthy, not implement them immediately while Trump remains in office. 2