What is the Trump administration planning to do to undermine the 2026 midterms, and how are advocates responding? We discuss on Your Call today w/ @davedaley.bsky.social & @ariberman.bsky.social Add your q's here & stream live 10am PT @kalwradio.bsky.social! www.kalw.org/show/your-ca...
The Authoritarian Playbook: Trump’s attacks on the 2026 midterms
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s restrictions on voting by mail, which could have disenfranchised millions of voters in the midterms. Now what?
kalw.org
![An excerpt from Justice Gorsuch's opinion in Slaughter:
"If allowing so much legislative and judicial power to accumulate in the President’s hands invites real risks, the question becomes: Who will address them?
At first blush, the most natural answer might seem Congress. Aware now that the premise on which it apparently proceeded was flawed—independent agencies are not so independent after all—Congress might wish to reconsider how much power should remain in the President’s hands. But if that seems a straightforward solution, there’s a straightforward problem with it. Of course, Congress still
possesses tools—most notably its appropriations authority—to “influence how the President exercises” his legislative and judicial functions. Learning Resources v. Trump, 607 U. S. 229, 271 (2026) (GORSUCH, J., concurring). But “[a]ny President keen on his own authority . . . will have a strong incentive to veto” any effort to reclaim those powers. Id., at 270–271. The consequence is a ratchet effect: Authorities Congress once delegated by a simple majority may
now require a veto-proof supermajority to retrieve.
Perhaps, then, if any real response is to come it will have
to come from this Court."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nmnbwegfw2uvkwbtijlcy6c6/bafkreidit6asblo2etuzqwr4yt74d4brfrlp3ea3dn6ofi7vlmd5hubude)
