Democrats draw up 150 scenarios to counter Trump election threats

The Democratic Party has begun laying out contingency plans against President Donald Trump ahead of November's midterm elections, amid widespread expectations that Democrats could reclaim majorities in both chambers of Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently convened a series of meetings with Democratic senators, legal experts and former officials to work through specific hypothetical scenarios, CNN reported Sunday (local time).

The scenarios included Trump deploying Department of Homeland Security agents and National Guard troops at polling stations, federal authorities seizing ballots after announcements that foreign adversaries had hacked voting systems, and AI-generated disinformation videos alleging election fraud triggering presidential intervention — including the purging of eligible voters from registration rolls.

"These meetings have been critical not just in thinking through how to stop Trump's outrageous threats, but in imagining the many variables of what Trump and his allies could do and the gaps in our preparedness," Schumer said.

On the House side, Rep. Joe Morelle of New York has led the preparedness effort, compiling a list of 150 potential threats that could arise on and after Election Day — among them Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents appearing at polling places and social media influencers spreading false information about polling location changes.

Democrats have been building out their response infrastructure for months. Schumer launched an election protection task force in April, and Sen. Alex Padilla of California established a bipartisan program to station congressional monitors at polling locations. Schumer also conducted tabletop exercises simulating various election-interference scenarios, with actors playing the roles of senior Trump administration officials.

Democratic lawyers have drafted legal filings in advance so they can move immediately to court if problems arise. The Elias Law Group, the largest Democratic law firm in the country, is currently handling 85 election-related lawsuits across 41 states. "If a threat arises or there's potential litigation to handle, we are all prepared to immediately fly to that state," said firm partner Aria Branch. "We essentially have our go-bags packed."

Nonpartisan organizations are also training volunteers to monitor the electoral process. The American Civil Liberties Union has invested $25 million to train 10,000 volunteers ahead of the midterms.

Trump recently signaled he may declare a state of emergency under the Insurrection Act. In an interview with Time magazine published Thursday (local time), he was asked whether he would rule out declaring an emergency before the midterms absent widespread street violence. "I don't rule things out and I don't rule things in. We'll see," he said.

When asked whether the question referred to the Insurrection Act, Trump said he had never used it but added, "I could use it," noting that "a lot of people think I should use it sometimes."