Republicans have controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives since January 2025. That is the full trifecta. Total power over the federal government's priorities, spending, and legislation. If you want to know what they have done with it on the subject of consumer prices, the answer is simple: prices are still going up.
Inflation rose to 3.3% year-over-year in March 2026, driven in part by disruptions caused by the war with Iran. Trump launched that war with Israel's backing in early 2026, and when gas prices spiked as a result, he dismissed it. A 57% majority of Americans told NPR, PBS, and Marist pollsters that lowering prices should be the president's top priority. He is not treating it as one.
What They Promised
The 2024 Republican campaign was built around a single economic argument: Democrats caused inflation, and Republicans would fix it. Trump and House Republicans promised to bring down the cost of groceries, gas, and housing. They promised that their tariff strategy, their deregulation agenda, and their tax cuts would create a new era of American affordability.
That was the pitch. It is worth measuring it against the reality.
What Is Actually Happening
The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects grocery prices will rise 3.1% in 2026. Tariffs on steel and aluminum have already raised the cost of canned goods, and those prices are expected to stay elevated. Goldman Sachs estimates that consumers are absorbing 55% of total tariff costs right now, and that number is expected to rise to 70% in 2026 as business inventories run out and contracts come up for renewal.
Those are not Democratic talking points. Those are economic projections from institutions with no partisan stake in the outcome.
Gas prices, housing, prescription drugs, insurance: none of the headline affordability problems that Republicans ran on in 2024 have been solved. In several categories they have gotten measurably worse. The administration spent its first year focused on deportations, on tariff fights with allies, on loyalty purges inside federal agencies, and on cutting the programs that provided financial stability to millions of Americans. Lowering the price of a gallon of milk was not on that list.
Republicans Are Starting to Panic
What is revealing about the current political moment is that the most credible critics of this record are Republicans themselves. GOP operatives, strategists, and sitting members of Congress have been leaking frustration to reporters for months. They believe the White House is not treating the affordability crisis with the urgency it deserves. They are worried that if prices do not come down before November 2026, they will lose the House.
Axios reported in late 2025 that Republican insiders were fretting about inflation's impact on the midterms. CNBC reported in April 2026 that Trump's lack of focus on the economy is "spooking Republicans." The Washington Post reported that gas prices alone are threatening the GOP in competitive House districts.
These are not outside critics. These are the people who work for, campaign for, and vote with Republicans every day. When they go on background to express concern, it is because the polling is bad enough that they cannot pretend otherwise.
What "Working Families Tax Cuts" Actually Did
Republicans point to the Working Families Tax Cuts bill as their signature economic achievement. It extended provisions from the 2017 tax law and added several new credits aimed at middle-income households. What it did not do was reduce the price of anything you buy at the store. Tax cuts and consumer price reduction are different things. One affects your tax return. The other affects your grocery bill every week. Republicans have consistently confused or conflated the two when talking to voters, and voters are noticing.
The Accountability Question
Republicans spent four years under Biden blaming the administration for every price increase at the pump and at the checkout lane. That was their argument. They owned it. They ran on it. Now they have the power, and the prices are still going up, and they are telling you it is complicated.
It is the same economy. The same voters. The same prices. The only thing that changed is who is responsible for fixing it.
Sources: CNBC | Axios | Yale Budget Lab | Washington Post
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