The Democrat plan after the midterms: Lawfare

By Easton Martin

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and national Democratic leaders are detailing how a Democratic congressional majority would use legislative oversight and subpoena power to target the Trump administration.

During her re-election campaign against Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, Hochul has centered her platform on opposing President Donald Trump’s agenda, aligning with national Democratic efforts to check the executive branch through congressional action.

In Congress, whichever political party holds the majority in the House of Representatives or the Senate controls the gavel of every standing committee, granting committee chairs the unilateral authority to issue federal subpoenas for documents, financial records, and witness testimony.

Democratic lawmakers are already preparing an expansive slate of oversight probes designed to investigate President Trump and his cabinet officials should Democrats flip control of either chamber on November third. This investigative strategy represents a direct continuation of the aggressive legal and prosecutorial campaigns waged against Trump across federal and state jurisdictions during the Biden administration.

Throughout the Biden presidency, the Department of Justice appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to bring two federal indictments against Trump, while Democratic prosecutors in New York and Georgia pursued parallel state criminal and civil cases. In New York, Attorney General Letitia James brought a massive civil financial lawsuit against the Trump Organization, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg prosecuted felony business record charges during the height of the presidential campaign.

Even during Trump’s current term, New York state officials have pursued legal challenges against federal administrative actions and enforcement policies. Shifting the primary mechanism of legal attrition back to Capitol Hill, a Democratic congressional majority would turn oversight committees into continuous investigative forums aimed at halting executive branch operations through litigation and subpoenas.