"President Donald Trump has spent the first nine months of his term bulldozing limits on his power, abetted by a supine Congress. What might be left of checks and balances after four years of unified Republican control in Washington is unclear. Trump sees winning a majority in the midterms as crucial to his agenda, and he is also worried about them, as demonstrated by his cajoling and badgering of GOP-led states to gerrymander House districts to aid Republican candidates."
"The good news is that experts I interviewed all told me there will be elections in 2026. The bad news is that Trump and his allies have many tools at their disposal to try to steal them. Modern authoritarians seldom cancel elections, because they prefer the veneer of democratic choice that voting provides, and because they can tilt the playing field toward themselves. "No one likes an election better than Vladimir Putin," the Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias told me."
President Donald Trump has spent the first nine months of his term tearing down institutional limits on presidential power, with Congress often abetting those moves. The durability of checks and balances after four years of unified Republican control in Washington is uncertain. Trump views winning a House majority in the midterms as crucial and has pressured GOP-led states to gerrymander districts to benefit Republicans. Experts say elections will occur in 2026, but Trump and his allies possess many tools to try to subvert them. Modern authoritarians rarely cancel elections; they instead manipulate rules and institutions to tilt outcomes toward themselves. Warnings have emerged that Trump may seek means to remain in office beyond a second term.
Read at The Atlantic
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