GOP handed new lifeline on biggest pocketbook fight of midterms
FIRST ON FOX: Republicans are being given a new playbook on an issue that is all but certain to be the biggest political lightning rod of the November midterms.
Conservative group Club for Growth is sending a memo to Capitol Hill lawmakers on Friday arguing that Americans' struggle with high living costs cannot be ignored — and that the fault lies with an expanding federal government.
"Americans are not asking whether the inflation rate has slowed; they are asking why the same basket of goods is permanently more expensive," the information packets being distributed to Republican lawmakers read. "[G]overnment made core costs higher through deficit spending, subsidies, mandates, and restrictions on supply."
It's an argument that could be a lifeline for the GOP as it fights an uphill battle to keep control of the House and Senate. While Democrats attack Republicans for how Americans feel about prices today, Club for Growth's memo is urging Republicans to point to the rapid federal expansion the Biden administration presided over during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The materials, a two-page memo for lawmakers and a more in-depth 76-page policy packet, also urge Republicans to push policies that Club for Growth says will actually lower those costs.
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The strategy would be a gamble, given the midterms are traditionally a referendum on how people feel about how they are doing under the party currently in power. But it gives Republicans a potential economic platform and a roadmap to pitch for lowering costs if they keep the majority for the next two years.
"The free-market answer is structural cost relief: spend less, build more, produce more energy, make healthcare compete, let workers earn, and let families choose," the memo said.
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It urged Republicans to resist calling for subsidies for areas of the economy where prices are skyrocketing, arguing that handing out taxpayer money would only increase costs in the longer-term. An example the memo used is Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, which Republicans have long blamed for skyrocketing healthcare costs before the COVID-era subsidy expired at the beginning of this year.
"Subsidies and regulation function as a back door for government control and involvement in private industry," the memo argued. "The only way to address the affordability crisis properly is to undo misguided government intervention and stop pretending more of the same will suddenly work."
But it could put GOP lawmakers at odds with President Donald Trump and his promise to give each American adult $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms. Several GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital last week were hesitant to embrace the idea.
Among the solutions offered are reforming Social Security, which fiscal hawks have long warned will soon run out of cash if changes are not made to current age requirements and other guidelines.
On high housing costs, the memo urges lawmakers to increase supply by targeting land use and building regulations rather than offering subsidies to make existing housing more affordable.
Energy costs, which were a flashpoint in the 2025 off-year elections as well, could be brought down by furthering the Trump administration's goals to unleash U.S. energy sources rather than Democrats' push for net-zero carbon emissions, the memo said.
A focus on nuclear energy policies could also help drive down energy costs, which will be at the forefront of most Americans' minds during the November election.
And while Democrats have pushed free early childcare as a solution for struggling families, the Club for Growth memo is urging Republicans to find a more lasting solution in reforming regulations surrounding the industry.
"Health and safety training in specific areas, adherence to building, fire, and health codes, and comprehensive background checks, including fingerprinting, are reasonable," the memo said. "However, strict and complex rules about work-child ratios, rigid staffing mandates, and regulations on facility specifications, including equipment requirements and zoning classifications, increase operating costs without demonstrable improvements in child wellbeing."
The election is less than 50 days away, and both sides are working overtime to prove they are best positioned to help ease rising costs.