The White House is mapping how to govern if Democrats win.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s White House has spent months preparing for a possible Democratic takeover of Congress, planning to keep advancing major parts of his agenda by executive power while bracing for investigations, a White House official and two people familiar with the plans told Reuters on Sunday. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and budget director Russell Vought have been working with the White House Counsel’s Office since April on executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing costs and federal spending that Trump could pursue without congressional approval. Counsel Will Scharf and his team are looking at “what Trump can legally do on his own, where he could push the limits of his authority and how to defend those decisions in court,” the official said.

Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the House and four in the Senate to overturn Republicans’ narrow 218-214 and 53-47 majorities. Opinion polls favor Democrats to win the House. The Senate remains too close to call, Reuters reported. Among the actions under consideration are new tariffs on critical minerals and wind turbines, tighter visa rules for international students and temporary foreign workers, and measures aimed at housing and construction costs. Vought is examining which priorities can move with money Congress has already appropriated, and he wants to change grant rules so political appointees have more say over who receives taxpayer money. Trump has been briefed and has taken part in the discussions. Asked how comfortable he would be governing that way under a Democratic Congress, one of the people said, “very comfortable.”

Very comfortable.

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said: “This administration and commonsense Republicans will continue to secure our borders, restore law and order, putting more money back into the pockets of hard-working Americans, and deliver wins for the American people.” Nathan Gonzales, of Inside Elections, said: “President Trump in the last two years has basically ignored Congress and tried to do as much as possible through executive orders and executive power. I think he will only continue if there are Democratic majorities.” Andrew Busch, of the University of Tennessee, said of nominees: “I would anticipate they will be very reluctant to approve any of the president’s appointments.” White House lawyers have been briefing appointees on subpoenas and document requests, and have advised them to be careful about what they put in writing, one person said.

The photograph is Thursday, Oct. 29, a Halloween event at the White House. Eric Lee made it for Reuters. President Trump and Melania Trump are speaking with children. Stephen Miller is not in the frame. Russell Vought is not in the frame. It is not the counsel’s briefing.