Fear of Losing the Midterms Is Driving Trump's Decisions [View all]

(The Atlantic) Few things make President Donald Trump angrier than the memory of his two impeachments. Despite his return to the White House this year, he frequently complains privately and publicly about Democrats’ efforts to remove him from office in his first term. Trump, to this day, insists that he did nothing wrong, calling both impeachments “witch hunts.”

And he is fearful that he might have to go through it all again.

The party out of power tends to do well in midterm elections, and Trump remembers how Democrats wielded the majority after capturing the House of Representatives in 2018. If the Democrats win control of one chamber of Congress next year—they are the slight favorites in the House, whereas the Senate would be harder—they won’t just have the ability to block whatever remains of Trump’s lame-duck legislative agenda. Armed with the power of the subpoena, they would also be able to open investigations into the Trump administration, dragging key officials to the Hill for embarrassing, headline-grabbing hearings. And even a simple majority in the House would allow Democrats the chance to impeach Trump for a third time.

The specter of investigations and impeachment has fueled many of the president’s most dramatic actions in recent weeks, three senior White House officials and two close outside allies told me. Trump’s unprecedented (and, Democrats say, illegal) mid-decade redistricting push, the deployment of the National Guard to Washington, his unceasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—all can be seen as part of a sweeping, frantic attempt to swing next year’s midterm elections.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fear-losing-midterms-driving-trump-100000293.html