If history is a guide, Republicans stand a good chance of losing control of the House of Representatives in 2026. They have just a slim majority in the chamber, and the incumbent party usually gives up seats in midterm elections.
President Donald Trump, whose loss of the House halfway through his first term led to two impeachments, is 鈥� and doing so in ways his opponents say are intended next year’s election landscape.
He has rallied his party to across the country to create more conservative-leaning House seats, an effort that could end up on him. He鈥檚 directed his administration to And, Democrats worry, he鈥檚 flexing his muscles to intervene in the midterms like no administration ever has.
Democrats and other critics point to how Trump has sent the military into Democratic cities over the objections of Democratic mayors and governors. They note that he鈥檚 pushed the Department of Homeland Security to be so aggressive that at one point its agents handcuffed a Democratic U.S. senator. And some warn that a Republican-controlled Congress could fail to seat winning candidates if Democrats reclaim the House majority, recalling even after in 2020, leading to by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.
Regarding potential military deployments, Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told The Associated Press: “What he is going to do is send those troops there, and keep them there all the way through the next election, because guess what? If people are afraid of leaving their house, they鈥檙e probably not going to leave their house to go vote on Election Day. That鈥檚 how he stays in power.鈥�
Military to the polls, or fearmongering?
Democrats sounded similar alarms just before November’s elections, and yet there were no significant incidents. California , a frequent Trump antagonist who also warns about a federal crackdown on voting in 2026, predicted that masked immigration agents would show up at the polls in his state, where voters were considering a ballot measure to counter Trump鈥檚 redistricting push.
There were no such incidents in November, and the measure to redraw California’s congressional lines in response to Trump’s efforts elsewhere .
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the concerns about the midterms come from Democratic politicians who are 鈥渇earmongering to score political points with the radical left flank of the Democrat party that they are courting ahead of their doomed-to-fail presidential campaigns.鈥�
She described their concerns as 鈥渂aseless conspiracy theories.鈥�
Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, denied that Trump was planning to use the military to try to suppress votes.
鈥淚 say it is categorically false, will not happen. It鈥檚 just wrongheaded,鈥� she told Vanity Fair for an interview that was published earlier in December.
DNC litigation director Dan Freeman said he hasn鈥檛 seen an indication that Trump will send immigration enforcement agents to polling places during the midterms, but is wary.
He said the DNC filed public records requests in an attempt to learn more about any such plans and is drafting legal pleadings it could file if Trump sends armed federal agents to the polls or otherwise intervenes in the elections.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not taking their word for it,鈥� Freeman said in an interview.
States, not presidents, run elections
November’s off-year elections may not be the best indicator of what could lie ahead. They were scattered in a handful of states, and Trump showed only modest interest until late in the fall when his Department of Justice announced it was to California and New Jersey to observe voting in a handful of counties. It was a bureaucratic step that had no impact on voting, even as it triggered alarm from Democrats.
Alexandra Chandler, the legal director of Protect Democracy, a group that has clashed with Trump over his role in elections, said she was heartened by the lack of drama during the 2025 voting.
鈥淲e have so many positive signs we can look to,鈥� Chandler said, citing not only a quiet election but GOP senators鈥� resistance to Trump鈥檚 demands to eliminate the filibuster and the widespread resistance to Trump鈥檚 demand that television host Jimmy Kimmel lose his job because of his criticism of the president. 鈥淭here are limits鈥� on Trump鈥檚 power, she noted.
鈥淲e will have elections in 2026,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 have to worry about that.鈥�
Under the Constitution, a president has limited tools to intervene in elections, which are run by the states. Congress can help set rules for federal elections, but states administer their own election operations and oversee the counting of ballots.
When Trump tried to singlehandedly revise election rules with a sweeping executive order shortly after returning to office, the courts stepped in and stopped him, citing the lack of a constitutional role for the president. Trump later promised another order, possibly targeting mail ballots and voting machines, but it has yet to materialize.
DOJ voter data request 鈥榮hould frighten everybody鈥�
Still, there鈥檚 plenty of ways a president can cause problems, said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor.
Trump unsuccessfully pushed Georgia鈥檚 top election official to to be declared the winner there in 2020 and could try similar tactics in Republican-dominated states in November. Likewise, Hasen said, Trump could spread misinformation to undermine confidence in vote tallies, as ahead of elections.
It鈥檚 harder to do that in more lopsided contests, as many in 2025 turned into, Hasen noted.
鈥淐oncerns about Trump interfering in 2026 are real; they鈥檙e not frivolous,鈥� Hasen said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e also not likely, but these are things people need to be on guard for.鈥�
One administration move that has alarmed election officials is a federal for detailed voter data from the states. The administration has , most of them controlled by Democrats, after they refused to turn over all the information the DOJ sought.
鈥淲hat the DOJ is trying to do is something that should frighten everybody across the political spectrum,” said David Becker, a former Justice Department voting rights attorney and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. “They鈥檙e trying to use the power of the executive to bully states into turning over highly sensitive data 鈥� date of birth, Social Security numbers, driver鈥檚 license, the Holy Trinity of identity theft 鈥� hand it over to the DOJ for who knows what use.鈥�
鈥榁oter protection鈥� vs 鈥榚lection integrity鈥�
Voting rights lawyers and election officials have been preparing for months for the midterms, trying to ensure there are ways to counter misinformation and ensure state election systems are easy to explain. Both major parties are expected to stand up significant campaigns around the mechanics of voting: Democrats mounting what they call a 鈥渧oter protection鈥� effort to monitor for problems while Republicans focus on what they call 鈥渆lection integrity.鈥�
Freeman, the DNC litigation director who previously worked in the DOJ’s voting section, said his hiring this year was part of a larger effort by the DNC to beef up its in-house legal efforts ahead of the midterms. He said the committee has been filling gaps in voting rights law enforcement that the DOJ has typically covered, including informing states that they can’t illegally purge citizens from their voter rolls.
Tina Barton, co-chair of the Committee on Safe and Secure Elections, a coalition of law enforcement and election officials who advise jurisdictions on de-escalation and how to respond to emergencies at polling places, says interest in the group’s trainings has 鈥渆xploded鈥� in recent weeks.
鈥淭here’s a lot at stake, and that’s going to cause a lot of emotions,鈥� Barton said.
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Associated Press writers Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to reflect the correct name of Alexandra Chandler’s organization, Protect Democracy.
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