When the dust settles on this, the executive branch needs to be nerfed to the point that it's mostly a figurehead. Certainly the unchecked tax hike via tariffs power needs to be ripped out immediately, before (any further) permanent damage can be inflicted on the country.
National elections for a few of the most significant ones (e.g. secretary of state, attorney general). Maybe Congress appoints the rest.
When designing a system to be resistant to attack, it helps to split up roles. A "superadmin" type of role is a vulnerability. Similar idea here.
In four years, if inflation and tariffs make the cost of living higher, then I think that Republican candidates will have problems, but in the midterm I think they can spin enough bullshit to keep the easily-distracted still voting for them. They just have to say "woke trigger the libs China beautiful clean coal Biden bad men in women's sports" and it's over.
House is fighting Trump on blowing out the deficit [1].
[1] https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/04/08/congress/an...
Which is kind of odd. 100% of the House is up for re-election; only 1/3 of the Senate is. I would expect the House to be fracturing more than the Senate.
The senators all have to battle state wide campaigns that are much more competitive than most safe house seats, which tends to have a moderating influence. Their campaigns are also a lot more expensive so they have to answer to a greater number and diversity of donors, while being less afraid of a more extreme primary challenger.