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:

“The failed leadership and policies of the Biden-Harris Administration continue to do severe damage to the wallets and well-being of the American people. Working families are paying 20 percent more for basic goods and services than when President Biden and Vice President Harris took the oath of office and, regardless of the Federal Reserve’s future decisions on interest rates, Americans have already been forced to suffer under rates that have climbed to a 23-year high to combat that inflation. The Biden-Harris big spending agenda is to blame. Under their watch, government spending has accounted for more than 1 in 4 dollars in the economy, much higher than the historical average.  Vice President Harris was the key tie-breaking vote that dumped trillions of spending into that economy, driving up prices for everyday Americans, locking families out of the American Dream of owning their own home, and creating a weaker and more uncertain future.

“To make matters worse, Vice President Harris has vowed to take more money out of the pockets of workers, families, farmers, and small businesses by letting the Trump tax cuts expire as part of the largest tax hike in American history. The Democrat plan is higher taxes and prices for working families, while continuing to hand out ‘green’ welfare to the wealthy and well-connected. Ways and Means Republican Tax Teams are already hard at work fighting to block the Harris $7 trillion tax hike plan and instead build on the success of the Trump tax cuts to support working families and America’s Main Street businesses.”

READ: Averting the Harris 2025 Tax Hike

READ: Tax Team Recap: Ways and Means Republicans Hit the Ground Running Ahead of 2025 Trump Tax Cut Expirations

READ: Tax Teams Recap: Preventing the Harris $7 Trillion Tax Hike

READ: Tax Teams Recap: Over August, Ways and Means Tax Teams Continue to Hit the Road

Key Background:

• Everything Costs More: Prices have increased 20.3 percent since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration. 
• Americans Making Less: Real wages and benefits have fallen 3.9 percent since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Inflation Above Fed’s Target: For 40 straight months, inflation has been above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
• Inflation Higher Than Wages: Inflation outpaced wages for 26 straight months under the Biden-Harris Administration.  
• Historic Interest Rates: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, interest rates hit their highest levels in 23 years.
• Mortgage Costs 91% Higher: The monthly mortgage payment for a median priced new home has increased by $1,030 and is 91 percent higher than when President Biden and Vice President Harris 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 five calendar quarters and the number of Americans struggling to pay credit card bills has increased to the highest level since March 2012.  Nearly 11 percent of credit card balances are more than 90 days past due.
• 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. At 3.3 percent, the personal savings rate is near its historic lows. 
• Families Falling Behind on Bills: Over one-third of families (37 percent) paid a late fee in the past year.
• Washington Has A Spending Problem: After the Trump tax cuts, federal revenue as a share of GDP averaged 17.2 percent, near the average since FY2000. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, federal spending as a share of GDP has exploded to 26.5 percent, more than 6 percentage points higher than the average from FY2000 to the pandemic.