WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, showed inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2 percent target:

“Working families have less money in their pocket and bank account than the day Joe Biden became President. Democrats’ big tax and spending agenda – led by President Biden – has fueled an almost 20 percent rise in prices that has devastated family budgets. Families and small businesses also have to pay the costs of fighting these high prices: higher interest rates, a weakened job market, and a slower economy.

“Ways and Means Republicans are focused on returning America back to the growth and prosperity under Trump economic policies, and that includes fighting back against President Biden’s $7 trillion proposed tax hike. Income for the median family rose $5,000, wages for workers at the bottom rose the fastest, inflation was low, and the economy grew faster than expected under the Trump tax cuts – tax cuts which President Biden wants to let expire. Tax teams setup by the Ways and Means Committee are hard at work identifying solutions to ensure President Biden does not get his way and instead build on the success of the 2017 Trump tax reforms to support workers, families, farmers, and small businesses on Main Street, and restore prosperity and economic optimism in America.”

READ: Ways & Means Chairman Smith and Tax Subcommittee Chairman Kelly Announce Tax Teams to Avert 2025 Tax Cliff

Key Background

• Prices have increased 19.9 percent since President Biden took office.
• Real wages and benefits have fallen 4.4 percent since President Biden took office.
• Inflation has become so deeply ingrained in the economy that core inflation (2.8 percent) is even higher than headline inflation. 
• Inflation Higher Than Wages: Inflation outpaced wages for 26 straight months of Biden’s presidency.
• Doubled Mortgage Costs: Mortgage rates reached a 23 year high of 7.8 percent in October. The monthly mortgage payment for a median priced new home has increased by $1,180 and is 104 percent higher than when President Biden took office in January 2021.
• $1 Trillion+ Credit Card Debt: Credit card interest rates are at the highest level in more than three decades, while consumer credit debt has exceeded $1 trillion for the second calendar quarter and the number of Americans struggling to pay credit card bills has increased to the highest level in 12 years.
• Shrinking Savings: Thanks to higher prices, families have spent the entirety of their pandemic savings by 2024 and they are able to save less of their income. The savings rate dropped to 3.2 percent, the lowest in nearly two years.