U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a working session with G7 leaders and outreach partners on international investment partnerships at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 16, 2026.
Because Democrats are expected to win back one or both houses of Congress in the upcoming midterms, President Donald Trump is faced with the prospect of being a lame duck. Now a new report reveals what congressional Republicans do — and do not — plan on doing in light of this impending setback.
"Republicans on Capitol Hill are poised to clash in the lame duck over how far to push President Trump’s agenda," reported The Hill's Helen Huiskes, Sudiksha Kochi and Mike Lillis on Sunday. "Midterm voters are widely expected to give Democrats control of the House, and maybe the Senate, in the next Congress, which would bring Trump’s legislative agenda to a screeching halt beginning next year."
The journalists added, "That scenario is setting off alarm bells among one camp of Republicans pushing to extend the post-election session to maximize the passage of GOP policies while they still have the power to do so. That includes a so-called reconciliation package designed to move partisan priorities without the need for any Democratic support."
Although some Republicans want to push through a reconciliation bill before January 2027 if Democrats reclaim Congress, The Hill is skeptical that this will actually work out.
"That strategy is likely to run into a brick wall, however, if Republicans are clobbered in the elections, and deflated GOP lawmakers lose their appetite to stick around Washington for too long afterwards, especially as the December holidays get closer," Huiskes, Kochi and Lillis wrote. "Those dynamics might be most pronounced in the House, where Republicans face the longest odds of keeping their majority, and attendance problems could undermine the party’s ability to move legislation."
Not everyone thinks Trump will become a lame duck if Democrats retake Congress. In December, Republican strategist Douglas Heye offered the alternative point of view.
"I'd also caution folks here because, you know, so often we've started to see people talk about Donald Trump as a lame duck president. Stop that. Donald Trump — we know — we've said so many times he defies the laws of political gravity. He's not like any other president. So why would this one thing make him like any other president? He's never going to go gracefully into that good night," Heye speculated.
He even said that this could hurt whichever Republican runs for president in 2028.
"And if you're JD Vance or you're Marco Rubio, whomever the nominee may be, you have to be mindful that Donald Trump can make news at any moment just because he wants to do so. And he does that very effectively," Heye pointed out.
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