Soaring inflation, rising gasoline prices and crushing housing costs have pressured Republicans in Congress to make an emergency pivot to affordability measures as they face an increasingly dissatisfied electorate that could boot them out of the majority after November.
Lawmakers are weighing a suspension of the federal gas tax and a sweeping housing reform bill after arriving Tuesday on Capitol Hill amid alarming economic news: Consumer prices rose 3.8% from a year earlier in April, the highest annual rate since May 2023.
“Clearly, this is an issue that every American is dealing with. And some of it, the circumstances are beyond their control,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, told The Washington Times.
Republicans huddled during a closed-door Senate luncheon to pivot toward an affordability agenda amid mounting blame for the rapidly rising cost of living. A CNN poll showed 77% of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, said President Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their communities.
“We are very focused on affordability,” Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota Republican, said after the luncheon.
Although President Biden and congressional Democrats were responsible for a massive federal spending spree that spurred inflation three years ago, the blame for the latest price increases fell squarely on Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans.
SEE ALSO: Trump says rising cost of living is not forcing him to settle war with Iran
Soaring costs for energy, food and housing are largely tied to the war in Iran, now in its third month. The conflict has all but closed the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for oil, fertilizer components and other goods. The transit disruption has caused gasoline and fertilizer prices to spike, and the impact has ricocheted through the U.S. economy.
Democrats were happy to point the finger at Republicans, whom they blame for launching a costly “war of choice” without a clear strategy or exit plan.
“Prices are rising, families are hurting, and Americans know exactly who is making it worse,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
Facing an increasingly angry electorate, Republicans are scrambling to address high costs.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, introduced legislation this week to temporarily suspend the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax. Senators are also pressuring the Republican-led House to take up the Senate-passed legislation to increase the nation’s housing inventory.
Congress must approve a federal gasoline tax holiday, but it has never agreed to one since the tax was created in 1932 to fund highway projects.
SEE ALSO: Prices rose at 3.8% for the year ending in April as energy spikes with Iran war
The idea nevertheless gained new traction this week among Republicans, building on legislation Democrats introduced in March, as gasoline prices rose to an average of $4.52 per gallon.
“We recognize there is short-term pain here,” Mr. Hoeven said. “I think people have an open mind.”
Mr. Thune and other Republicans interviewed by The Times emphasized the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow cargo ships to pass and quickly ease pressure on crude oil prices. A barrel of Brent crude oil has jumped from about $72 in late February, when the war started, to $108 on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Republicans are zeroing in on legislation that would address high housing costs, which Mr. Thune said “strikes at the very heart of affordability.”
Republicans met with Mr. Trump at the White House on Monday to win his backing for a Senate-passed measure that would boost construction of affordable homes by overhauling and modernizing housing regulations and environmental reviews, and by reducing red tape that slows home building.
The measure also would place new restrictions on large investors that would make it harder for them to scoop up single-family houses, a practice that has driven up prices and reduced inventory.
After meeting with Senate Republicans, Mr. Trump boosted the Senate housing bill on his social media accounts. He called on the House to pass the legislation, which, he said, “would ensure that homes are for people, not Corporations.”
The nation’s growing affordability crisis has left some Republicans unwilling to rubber-stamp the White House’s $1 billion funding request for additional security infrastructure. A portion of the funding request is for security at the planned White House ballroom, an ornate structure that Democrats oppose, even though it is privately funded.
Few Republican senators were willing to commit Tuesday to including the $1 billion request in an upcoming budget reconciliation bill, even after a private briefing from Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran.
“It’s pretty expensive, obviously,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican, said after the briefing.
Democrats were relishing the chance to turn the $1 billion White House security funding request into a campaign talking point by tying it directly to the new ballroom.
“At the very moment Americans are pleading for relief, Republicans are telling them, pay for Trump’s palace first,” Mr. Schumer said. “They got nothing for the American people and a ballroom for Donald Trump.”
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