WASHINGTON, DC – Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the first reading of 2023 GDP showed economic growth slowed significantly to just 1.1 percent in the first quarter, below expectations:

“President Biden and Washington Democrats have delivered a stumbling economy and all the pain that comes with it for working families. Their reckless spending has stolen $10,000 from every working-class American and seniors will lose even more if Democrats continue treating the debt crisis like a political game. House Republicans took action this week by passing commonsense spending cuts that will put our nation back on a path to fiscal sanity, and pro-growth policies to lift more Americans out of poverty. 

“Workers, farmers, and small businesses are right to feel like Washington has forgotten about them. While Democrats gave the wealthy a $7,500 tax break to buy a luxury electric car and hundreds of billions of dollars in handouts to big corporations and Wall Street, working-class Americans live in greater fear of being hit by an audit from one of the 87,000 new employees President Biden is hiring at the IRS. Ways and Means Republicans are listening to working Americans who want a tax code that grows our economy, increases their paycheck, and helps Main Street businesses expand and hire new workers.”

Warning Signs Blinking: Recession Approaching

• NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index shows American small businesses continue to grow more worried about future economic conditions.
• National Association for Business Economics survey expects a recession in 2023.
• U.S. Economic Leading Indicators shows the economy is weakening and will likely enter into a recession later this year.
• Bankrate’s Economic Indicators survey forecasts a 64 percent chance of the economy contracting by the end of the year.

In Their Own Words: Working Americans Are Worse Off Under President Biden

At Ways and Means field hearings across the country, working Americans have testified that they are worse off under President Biden:

• West Virginia – Ashley Bachman, mother of three and local restaurant owner: “Unfortunately, after COVID we have been hit with another crisis. The crisis of rising costs of everything…Our little restaurant has been bleeding money due to all the increased costs and I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to continue with the prices the way they are…” February 6, Field Hearing on the State of the American Economy: Appalachia
• Oklahoma – Chuck Mills, owner and operator of his family’s manufacturing company: “The lack of workforce and supply chain issues, combined with inflationary pressures, have made this economy the most difficult economy I have dealt with in over four decades.” March 7, Field Hearing on the State of the American Economy: The Heartland
• Georgia – Matt Livingston, owner of a small home construction business and family restaurant: “I’m not sure anything I could say will change the minds of those that believe this economy is thriving or it is the best that it has ever been. Anyone that has those beliefs obviously has not been to my small town.” April 21, Field Hearing on the State of the American Economy: The South