US President Donald Trump’s life just got significantly more difficult. Even without the full results of the November 3 US midterm elections available, it is clear his Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate in the next Congress. Democrats secured majorities in both chambers, flipping multiple seats deep in former Republican strongholds and ending the Grand Old Party’s power trifecta.Unsurprisingly, the consensus of the clever is that between now and 2028, he will be a so-called “lame duck”, his agenda blocked at every turn by a hostile Congress, while fighting off impeachment.Perhaps.However, more than 200 years ago, that remarkable document — the Constitution of the US — anticipated moments like this. To provide for times when Congress was uncooperative, the president retains core executive powers that do not require congressional agreement, starting with the power to simply veto any bill that reaches his desk.As he offered in a November 3 interview, he would be “Mr. Veto.”In theory, Congress can override a veto, but to do it takes a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate — an extremely high bar even with Democratic majorities.Trump is not a big believer in legislation, anyway. In the first two years of his second term, he has passed one significant bill — his core economic agenda, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Otherwise, he has governed by executive order and regulatory control. The president directs federal agencies and recent Supreme Court decisions have reinforced unitary executive authority over independent agencies and commissions, allowing the administration to continue reshaping rules on immigration, energy, finance, and more — without new statutes. Much of the existing tariff architecture, for example, is executive. New or adjusted duties, exclusions, or enforcement actions can proceed without congressional approval..With Iran in mind, as commander-in-chief, the president also directs military operations, sanctions, diplomacy, and intelligence priorities. Congress can withhold funding or hold hearings, but it cannot dictate day-to-day foreign-policy decisions or reverse most ongoing operations by simple majority.Likewise, expect no changes to immigration enforcement and border policy. The executive branch controls enforcement priorities, detention, asylum processing, and related regulations. The White House has already signalled it prepared for this outcome by identifying executive pathways on immigration, trade, and agency management. The Constitution also gives the president a lot of executive latitude on spending, procurement, and certain regulatory matters; reversing some of those actions requires congressional action, which Trump can also veto.What the Constitution does grant to congressional majorities is control of the legislative calendar, committee gavels, subpoena power, and the ability to slow or block nominees. The Democrats can therefore create obstacles for the administration with investigations and force the administration to spend political capital on self-defence.They cannot, however, easily unwind existing executive actions, reverse tariffs already in place, dictate military operations, or pass their own agenda over a presidential veto. Courts remain the primary external check, not Congress alone.Certainly, the Democrat majorities have leverage through funding bills, debt-ceiling negotiations, and sustained oversight. A determined Democratic Congress will make governing noisier and more constrained than the previous two years. It can also set the stage for 2028 by defining the political environment.For the Republicans, those are genuine costs. But they do not convert the presidency into a ceremonial office.Especially, they do not convert the combative character of Donald Trump into anything other than the fighter he has always been. The Constitution and statutes leave substantial independent authority in the executive, and Trump has shown both the willingness to use it and the institutional memory that would provoke him to do so. The next two years will be more difficult for him, but don’t expect him to be a bystander, lame or otherwise.One other thing. The illustrious US Constitution also vests the power of pardon in the presidency, including its pre-emptive use. With Democrats promising political prosecutions for people who worked for Trump when they get the chance, that’s perhaps the last, best power he could possibly need.Meanwhile, Trump will fight. It does not appear to be in his nature to do otherwise.
