House GOP working full steam ahead on Trump’s ‘affordability agenda’—Speaker Mike Johnson
On Friday, November 21, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson, R-La., said a key part of House Republicans’ remaining agenda for this Congress will be making life more affordable for Americans.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the House Speaker acknowledged there was a “short amount of time” for lawmakers to be in D.C. before the end of this year but said they would be working toward a number of goals, including President Donald Trump’s “affordability” agenda.
Speaker Johnson said, “We have a lot of executive orders that we want to continue to codify through the end of the year. We’re still doing regulatory reform to end the Biden-era regulations. We did some of that this week.”
Adding that “There are a lot of initiatives left on the table, things for us to do, and a short amount of time to do them in. But we’re really bullish about the ideas that we’re bringing forward over the next few weeks and in the coming months about reducing the cost of living.”
The speaker made it clear that “affordability” was “the buzzword of the day.” In his words, “We have an affordability agenda, as the president has been touting, and we have to do that in earnest. Healthcare is part of that. But it’s just the costs across the board.”
According to Speaker Johnson, the high cost of living seen today is a result of the policies of the previous Democratic administration. He argued that former President Joe Biden approved policies that led to higher inflation.
Former President Joe Biden
He said, “We the people rightfully revolted against that and gave us the power again in January. But the economy is a very complex thing; you don’t flip a switch and just change it all in one week. It takes a while.”
According to a Texas A&M University analysis, the beginning of Biden’s administration was marked by record-high inflation. The analysis also stated that the inflation eased somewhat as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic slowly subsided. However, throughout his term, the increase in consumer prices outperformed average wage growth.
Republicans pledged to reduce the cost of living as they took office earlier this year. According to Speaker Johnson, a hallmark of that was Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” since rebranded as the “working families’ tax cut.”
He argued that “by the time we get into the first and second quarter of next year, as Treasury Secretary Bessent has said, we should have an economic boom because all of these pieces will be coming into play. Taxes will be lower, with no tax on tips and overtime and lower taxes on seniors. And then there’ll be more investment because we have all the pro-growth policies and tax policies that will allow the job creators, entrepreneurs, risk-takers, and innovators to do what they do.”
“Everything I just described will happen in due time, and it will. So we’re very bullish about it.”
House Republicans are also expected to work on a healthcare package over the coming weeks that aims to reduce the premiums many Americans face while they seek to change the Obamacare system.
They are also expected to advance legislation in the coming weeks focused on lowering energy costs, including fixing an outdated system for permitting new energy projects.
