Over the course of this election, we’ve monitored key toss-up congressional races, fact-checking false claims and distortions of the facts on a host of topics. But some issues have loomed larger than others.
Common Themes in the 2026 Midterms
Issues: tax cuts
Trump’s Tariffs Don’t Come Close to Funding Everything He’s Proposed
President Donald Trump has said over the last year that money brought in from his increased tariffs would pay for at least half a dozen initiatives — from reducing the national debt to providing dividend checks to “moderate income patriots” — but the revenue raised so far can’t deliver all of them.
FactChecking Trump’s Rapid-Fire Prime-Time Address
President Donald Trump blitzed through a prime-time address to the nation on Dec. 17, but while short, Trump’s speech contained a number of inaccurate or misleading claims, many of which he has repeated in public speeches for months.
MAGA Ad Distorts How Massie Diverges from Trump
An attack ad by a super PAC called MAGA Kentucky targets Republican Rep. Thomas Massie — a longtime conservative foil of President Donald Trump — with claims that distort the congressman’s votes on some of Trump’s policy goals.
Explaining Trump’s Claim of a ‘68%’ Tax Increase
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates that, on average, Americans’ taxes would rise about 7.5% if the 2017 tax cuts are allowed to fully expire at the end of the year. But President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that if the Republican budget bill, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, doesn’t pass, Americans “will get a 68% tax increase.”
Pro-Trump TV Ad Overstates His Second-Term Economic Record
A TV ad from a group supportive of President Donald Trump makes misleading claims, and uses outdated data, to argue that he is “fixing” an economy “ruined” by Democrats.
Independent Analyses Contradict Navarro’s $6 Trillion-Plus Tariff Revenue Estimate
Before President Donald Trump paused some new tariffs that he unveiled on April 2, several economic groups estimated that tariffs he has announced this year could raise between roughly $2 trillion and more than $4 trillion in federal revenue over a 10-year period. But that’s well short of the $6 trillion or $7 trillion that White House trade adviser Peter Navarro claimed the tariffs would raise to help pay for tax cuts, including an extension of the 2017 tax law.
Kamala Harris’ Closing Arguments
In the closing weeks of the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris has portrayed former President Donald Trump as a danger to democracy. She also has warned he will enact policies that will hurt blue-collar workers, women, seniors, and the nation’s health care system and economy. That was her message at eight campaign events that we reviewed from Oct. 18 through Oct. 22.
FactChecking Trump’s Iowa Town Hall
The Republican presidential front-runner repeated many claims he has made before.
FactChecking Biden’s State of the Union Address
The president stretched the facts on gas prices, jobs, tax cuts and more.