2026 Midterms

[Optimus Prime]

President Trump's team has launched an early and aggressive behind-the-scenes effort to maintain the GOP's tenuous grip on the House in 2026 — and avoid his third impeachment.

Why it matters: Trump allies believe — with good reason — that a Democrat-controlled House would launch investigations of the president and move to impeach him. That's exactly what happened after Democrats seized the chamber during Trump's first term.

• Midterm elections are historically tough for the party occupying the White House, and senior Republicans privately acknowledge that retaining the speaker's gavel won't be easy.

The twice-impeached Trump "knows the stakes firsthand. He saw what can happen. It's clear he doesn't want that again," said Matt Gorman, a top official for House Republicans' campaign arm in the 2018 midterms.

• "Investigations, impeachment — he knows it's all on the table with a Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries."
• Already, some Democrats have signaled they want to investigate Trump's overhaul of the U.S. government, whether he manipulated markets and fostered insider trading with his tariff announcements, and whether he's helped Elon Musk secure deals for Starlink.
• Then there's that $400 million jet from Qatar. Democrats and other critics say Trump violated the Constitution by accepting the gift.

Zoom in: Here are five steps Trump's taking to try to keep Republican control of the House, where the GOP has an eight-seat majority — including vacancies created this year by the deaths of three Democrats.

1. Trying to prevent retirements

The White House is targeting several Republicans in politically divided swing districts and urging them to not ditch their seats or run for higher office.

• It has sent a clear message to New York Rep. Mike Lawler that Trump wants him to stay in the House rather than run for governor. This month Trump made a point of endorsing Lawler for re-election to his southern New York district, which Kamala Harris won in the presidential election last November.
• Trump's team also has expressed concern about Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga weighing a run for the Senate.

Incumbent lawmakers with established fundraising and campaigning networks are almost always better positioned to win than any challengers.

• Vacant seats also cost the party big bucks. Trump's allies have been passing around a spreadsheet with cost estimates to compete in the seats of 16 members if they depart. Among the estimated price tags: As much as $14 million for Lawler's seat and $3.7 million for Huizenga's.

Trump's team hasn't been totally successful in dissuading ambitious lawmakers from jumping ship.

• Michigan Rep. John James opted to run for governor. Trump is worried about the GOP's chances of keeping James' seat on the state's eastern shore, according to a person familiar with the president's thinking.
• The White House also is worried about retaining the central Kentucky seat held by Rep. Andy Barr, who's running for Senate. Trump won Barr's district by 15 points in November, but Democrats hold an edge in registered voters there.

2. Spending big

Trump has built a $500 million-plus political apparatus, and he's already unloading some of it with 2026 in mind.

• Securing American Greatness, a pro-Trump group that works with the White House, has launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting his economic agenda in the districts of eight vulnerable House Republicans.
• The commercials also are airing in 13 districts where Trump won in November, but House GOP candidates lost

• Trump also has a leadership PAC, Never Surrender, planning to give directly to Republican candidates.

3. Taking primary challengers off the table

Besides Lawler, Trump has endorsed a slate of swing-district GOP incumbents in a series of moves aimed at shutting down would-be primary challengers before they get off the ground, people close to the president tell Axios.

• Top Republicans are worried that competitive primaries could drain the party's resources and weaken lawmakers in next year's general election.

The endorsements by Trump followed a recent meeting involving the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair Richard Hudson, and Georgia Rep. Brian Jack, a former Trump aide.

• Trump proposed endorsing vulnerable Republicans early to ward off primary challenges and Johnson agreed, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
• Corry Bliss, who formerly led a pro-House GOP super PAC, said Trump's popularity among Republican voters is likely to stop many potential primary challengers in their tracks............

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/27/trump-5-steps-gop-house-2026

 

[Bayouboy]

I was REALLY hoping Massie could pull it off. It's a shame that orange man still has that much clout given everything....

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I thought Louisiana was bad for electing Landry. But Alabama is about to put Tommy Tuberville in their governor's mansion.

 

[Maxp]

Yeah, we are screwed. At least Meemaw used to be a teacher. Tuberville is the dumbest senator in the senate.

 

[faceman]

I thought Louisiana was bad for electing Landry. But Alabama is about to put Tommy Tuberville in their governor's mansion.

Good, he can only screw up one state and not all 50. Good riddance

 

[Bayouboy]

Yeah, we are screwed. At least Meemaw used to be a teacher. Tuberville is the dumbest senator in the senate.

Landry and Tuberville tell you all you need to know about folks in the deep south.

 

[faceman]

Landry and Tuberville tell you all you need to know about folks in the deep south.

You can add Ms. Gov. Tate Reeves and auditor Shad White.

 

[Optimus Prime]

“Thomas Massie caught in a throuple!” screamed the AI-generated attack ad that showed the Republican congressman supposedly dining with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar then checking into a hotel with the two progressives. “Thomas Massie betrayed President Trump!” it added.

Crude but effective, as it turns out. Massie, from northern Kentucky, lost the most expensive House of Representatives primary election in history on Tuesday to Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former US Navy Seal backed by Donald Trump.

Massie’s ousting after nearly 14 years was proof that Trump still rules the Republican party like a mob boss who can get a horse’s head placed in any bed. Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, posted on X: “Do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power. Fork around, find out.”

But the president’s allies are in danger of scraping false hope from Kentucky’s fourth congressional district. Trump commands fierce loyalty from a base that is shrinking. He is like a cult leader whose commune keeps getting smaller while the devotion inside grows more intense.

For sure, Trump’s political death has been greatly exaggerated. He was written off after the January 6 insurrection, but in the end it was Liz Cheney, his leading Republican critic on that effort to subvert democracy, who paid the price when she lost her House seat in Wyoming in 2022.

Similarly, it became a received wisdom that the Jeffrey Epstein files would be Trump’s undoing, that here, finally, was the moment his base would revolt against him. Yet Massie was the lead Republican on that cause, working with Democrat Ro Khanna to force the release of the files, only to suffer the same fate as Cheney………..

Trump’s allies in danger of scraping false hope from Maga victory in Kentucky primary

US president, like a cult leader whose commune keeps getting smaller, commands fierce loyalty from a shrinking base

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bayouboy]

I did read somewhere the boomers and plus 65 voting block won the primary for Massie's opponent. Massie won decidingly among younger voters. Maybe the country changes for the better in 10-20 years when the die hard racists are gone.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Maybe the country changes for the better in 10-20 years when the die hard racists are gone.

People have have saying this for 60+ years

 

[MT15]

People have have saying this for 60+ years

Exactly. Hell, we used to say this when I was young, lol.

 

[faceman]

People have have saying this for 60+ years

Yeah the problem is hardcore racists usually have children that turn out the same way.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Trump’s elections revenge crusade just saddled him with crucial GOP foes in Congress

Trump is poking the bear in the Senate, where Republicans added to his burn list are flexing their power, writes John Bowden. And, as Thomas Massie reminded after his loss Tuesday night, they have seven more months to do so

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Lapaz]

I thought Louisiana was bad for electing Landry. But Alabama is about to put Tommy Tuberville in their governor's mansion.

I thought Kay Ivey was decent. I hope to god that that Tuberville dunce doesn't get elected. I know we are a heavily red state, but it will be bad for the state if that idiot is making decisions, so I hope Doug Jones can beat him. Doug is fantastic, but I doubt we can have nice things. It took a horrific Republican for Jones to win the senate. Then Tuberville beat Jones for Senate, so I'm not optimistic. Unfortunately, we are a state dominated by idiots and racists.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

Trump’s elections revenge crusade just saddled him with crucial GOP foes in Congress

Trump is poking the bear in the Senate, where Republicans added to his burn list are flexing their power, writes John Bowden. And, as Thomas Massie reminded after his loss Tuesday night, they have seven more months to do so

www.independent.co.uk

I hope they get vindictive against their Republican "colleagues" in Congress too. They will be in Congress pass the midterms, so they could help the Democrats force Congressional Republicans to show their true lack of care for their voters before the midterms.

Fingers crossed.