House Democrats are drawing up plans to use Congress's spending powers to force compliance from the Trump administration if they retake the House majority in the November midterms. According to sources cited in Hugo Lowell's Inner Loop newsletter, aides are exploring ways to compel officials and figures close to Trump to answer subpoenas, with particular focus on threatening funding for Trump's construction projects, including West Wing renovations and a proposed triumphal arch in Washington, DC, should he obstruct investigations or ignore Congress.

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin has said Congress holds "the power of the purse" and could block funding to stop Trump "destroying" federal buildings, after the Supreme Court allowed him to proceed with a White House ballroom project. Democrats are also considering inherent contempt fines for subpoena noncompliance, given that traditional court enforcement, as seen with former White House counsel Don McGahn in Trump's first term, can take years. Legal experts favour legislation fast-tracking judicial review of subpoena disputes, though this remains imperfect since the Justice Department, which would prosecute noncompliance, is unlikely to pursue its own officials.