With Democrats increasingly “in sight” of flipping the Senate in the midterms, Republicans have reportedly adopted a contingency plan that “would force a delay in the seating of the new Senate” should Democrats succeed, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported Tuesday.
As President Donald Trump’s favorability continues to plummet to historic lows amid his deeply unpopular war against Iran, Democrats have gained significant ground against Republicans, with multiple polls showing Democrats being favored to retake the U.S. House, and possibly the Senate.
Should Democrats end up retaking control of Congress’ upper chamber, however, Trump and Republicans, according to a source “with access to White House political data” who spoke with Hersh, already have an obstruction plan in place.
“In the near term, I have been told that the Republicans will not give up on keeping control of the Senate, even if the initial returns go against them,” Hersh wrote in a report published Tuesday on his Substack.
“Close elections will be challenged, and there are enough committed election deniers in place in enough states to pose election challenges that would force a delay in the seating of the new Senate on January 3, 2027, as mandated by the Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution.”
As such, Hersh warned that newly elected Democratic senators could have the certification of their victories delayed, and “would not be allowed to join the new Senate,” putting the new Congress in "unpleasant waters.”
“This mess would eventually fall into the hands of Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the respected Republican Senate majority leader who would be the one to decide when to bring an election dispute to the floor of the Senate for an up-or-down vote,” Hersh wrote.
Hersh has previously reported on other alleged Trump administration plans to meddle in the midterms, including one that could see White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller invoke a handful of lesser-known “extraordinary secret powers” that could “upend the Constitution.”