Key Points For months, Republicans have asserted that inflation is a legacy issue from former President Joe Biden. Now, a crisis of their own making is at hand, and the blame game is just beginning.
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans won the 2024 election and took power by promising to "solve the inflation problems of the Biden era."
Now, some Republican lawmakers are questioning if their own policy priorities are flawed.
On March 27, 2026, Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick spoke with reporters in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol.
For months, Republicans have maintained that inflation was a problem left by former President Joe Biden. As the midterm elections approach, an inflation crisis largely fueled by their own actions is imminent, and the partisan finger-pointing is just getting started.
In April 2026, U.S. inflation rose to 3.8% year-over-year, reaching its highest level since 2023. The primary driver of this recent surge has been skyrocketing energy prices, which have climbed steadily since President Trump went to war with Iran.
In 2024, Trump and Congressional Republicans secured electoral victory and control by pledging to "tackle the stubborn inflation of the Biden years." Now, they risk a major defeat in the 2026 midterms due to an inflation crisis they helped create. While the President advocates for a $400 million White House banquet hall project and an $18 billion taxpayer-funded legal relief fund for "victims of government weaponization," Republicans are struggling to present a clear plan to combat high prices, leaving them on the defensive.
Republican members of Congress are beginning to wonder: were their policy priorities misplaced?
"When half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, the word 'banquet hall' shouldn't be on anyone's agenda," said Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (a moderate representing a swing district) to reporters on Capitol Hill. "We have to always be focused on affordability for people, always. Both parties made mistakes in the past that led us to this crisis."
Fitzpatrick's comments represent a rare internal Republican critique of Trump's policy priorities. The U.S. economy has been battered by on-again, off-again tariff policies for months and is now deeply affected by the war with Iran, yet the GOP largely remains in lockstep with Trump.
When asked what message Republicans should send to voters in their districts, Fitzpatrick did not defend the party, stating bluntly: "The two-party system is corrupt. We should do away with the two-party system altogether. That's the way forward."
Fitzpatrick is not alone in warning that inflationary pressures could devastate Republicans in the November midterms, especially against a backdrop of persistently high prices that have burdened Americans for years.
"The situation isn't as bad as the worst of the Biden years, but most Americans never recovered from the high prices back then, and that remains the central pain point now," said Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon, a frequent critic of Trump who is retiring at the end of this term.
Bacon directly linked inflation to Trump's tariff policies: "Tariffs are terrible policy, period. Milton Friedman, Adam Smith—that's the bedrock of conservatism, and we're violating it," he said, referring to core principles of free-market economics.
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that from March to April 2026 alone, food price increases far exceeded the 0.25% monthly average seen in 2025.
According to AAA data, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline in late April reached $4.49, a 51% increase from before the war with Iran began.
For years, voters have expressed dissatisfaction with high prices and economic conditions. Concurrently, Trump's economic approval ratings have plummeted. A recent poll shows only 33% of voters approve of his handling of the economy, with an even lower 28% approval on the cost of living.
In generic congressional ballot polling, Democrats hold a lead. The polling average shows Democrats leading Republicans by 7.1 percentage points. Republicans currently hold a slim majority of just five seats in the House of Representatives.
The chair of the House Democratic campaign arm, Washington Democrat Suzan DelBene, told CNBC that voter frustration stems from "promises not kept."
"They keep saying, 'Just wait, things will get better,' but they never deliver. People are tired of empty promises. Trump promised to lower the cost of living on day one. What happened?" DelBene said.
Not all Republicans have lost confidence in turning the tide on inflation.
Iowa Republican Congressman Zach Nunn said he believes voters will credit Republicans for the tax cuts passed in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill, which he called "a big, beautiful bill."
"Which party passed the largest tax cut in American history to deal with inflation?" Nunn asked. "We passed more trade deals than we've had in years, we passed the biofuels bill—$23 billion in economic growth for my home state of Iowa—and we made onshoring a key priority, and local economic growth is starting from that."
Republican leadership remains optimistic about the economic outlook and the upcoming election.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Sunday he is confident Republicans will expand their majority in the November election.
"I have every confidence that we're going to grow our majority," Johnson said in an interview with Fox News during the Indianapolis 500. "Kitchen table issues will decide this midterm election."
But the central question remains: How can Republicans bring down prices for everyday goods before the election? It is an unresolved challenge. Some Republicans have suggested a third tax and spending bill this year focused on reducing costs, but that is a daunting task—especially after Trump angered some Senate allies last week by pushing the banquet hall project, endorsing a challenger to a popular incumbent senator, and the controversy over the Justice Department "weaponization" fund.
Most Republican policymakers agree on one point: the most critical price—gasoline—is unlikely to fall significantly until the war with Iran ends or the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for one-fifth of the world's oil shipments, reopens.
A recent analysis by energy research firm Wood Mackenzie indicates that if the conflict is resolved quickly, Brent crude could fall to $80 per barrel by year-end. If the strait remains blocked through the end of the year, the situation would deteriorate sharply, with oil prices potentially soaring to $200 per barrel.
"The key is getting energy prices back to a reasonable level, and that means resolving the Iran conflict," said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican. "There are still some things we can do through the budget reconciliation process, but fundamentally this is a supply and demand problem."
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