Could Trump interfere in the US midterms – and what checks and balances could stop him?

High stakes for both parties

Trump is not running in the midterms, but the results could shape the remainder of his term. A Democratic majority in the House could investigate the administration, issue subpoenas and slow the president’s agenda.

Limits on presidential authority

The Constitution gives states authority over the timing, location and conduct of congressional elections. Congress can change those rules, while the president can sign or veto election laws.

The president oversees federal agencies, including the Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security and Postal Service. Executive orders can direct those agencies, but cannot override state election law. A federal judge permanently blocked most of Trump’s first election-related executive order, which sought citizenship documents for voter registration.

Pressure points in voting

Federal courts have blocked actions involving mail ballots. A judge stopped Trump’s order directing the Postal Service to refuse ballots for voters missing from a state-provided list, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision.

The Supreme Court also ruled that states may count mail ballots posted by Election Day but received later. The Justice Department plans to send about 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states, but they may enter polling places only with local officials’ permission.

Counting and certification challenges

Certification is the formal approval of results by state and local officials. Trump has said he would accept the outcome if the elections are honest, while his past pressure on Georgia’s top election official has raised concern. On January 3, 2027, the new House is scheduled to convene; each chamber judges its members’ elections. Speaker Mike Johnson called refusing to seat Democratic winners “absurd.”