President Donald Trump puts his cap back on during a campaign rally at the Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, Montana, October 14, 2026.
President Donald Trump's chaotic control over the country is poised to hit a serious roadblock if and when Republicans lose power in the midterms, and according to a new piece from The Hill, there is one particular tool that will prove to be Democrats' secret weapon in Congress for reining him in.
Driven largely by voter disdain for Trump's leadership, Republicans are widely expected to lose much of their power in Washington, D.C., in next month's midterms. The Senate, once viewed as a safe for the GOP to retain, is becoming ever more likely to flip to Democratic control, while the House is such a foregone conclusion that some Republican lawmakers are openly admitting that retaining their majority in the chamber is impossible.
It is in the House, according to The Hill's Sudiksha Kochi, that Democrats are poised to gain control of their "greatest tool" to curb Trump's rampant presidency: the House Appropriations Committee.
"A Democratic takeover would put Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in line to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee, giving Democrats greater sway over the annual spending bills that fund federal agencies and programs," Kochi explained. "They could use the process to try to rein in President Trump’s spending priorities, attach restrictions to agency funding and scrutinize how the administration is using taxpayer dollars."
She added further: "The strategy could put Democrats on a collision course with the White House and congressional Republicans, particularly if they win a razor-thin House majority. Any spending legislation would still need enough Senate support to overcome the filibuster and eventually Trump’s signature, limiting how far Democrats could go without Republican buy-in. Still, the appropriations process would give Democrats an opening to force the administration to the negotiating table."
Kochi outlined several areas in which Appropriations Committee control would allow Democrats to subject Trump's agenda to greater scrutiny and hold his administration to account. First and foremost, she highlighted Trump's pilfering of National Parks funding to pay for his D.C. monument vanity projects, with Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat and ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, telling The Hill that there are plans to begin scrutinizing this practice.
"Another area Democrats will be focused on is defense funding, especially as the war with Iran has cost the U.S. billions of dollars," Kochi added. "Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, argued that Congress needs to 'get back to parity between nondefense and defense spending.'"
She added later: "For Trump, this is all a headache, particularly as he has repeatedly tested the limits of executive authority and sought to exert greater control over federal spending, challenging Congress’s constitutional power of the purse."