September 6, 2025
Dear Friends,
During last year’s presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to make lowering prices for American families a centerpiece of his agenda. “Starting on day one,” Trump pledged, “we will end inflation and make America affordable again.” Ignoring warnings from economists across the political spectrum, Trump claimed that his plan to impose sweeping tariffs on nearly every country in the world — forcing American families and businesses to pay drastically higher prices on a wide array of products — would somehow reduce inflation. But after several months of this administration, it’s clear that Trump’s policies have done exactly the opposite.
Prices have continued to rise under the Trump administration — increasing at an annual rate of 2.7% in July — and working families are being hit particularly hard. As millions of children head back to school, parents are facing a 5.4% uptick in the cost of school lunch staples like grapes, strawberries, and apple juice, along with a 7.3% increase in the price of school supplies like notebooks, binders, and highlighters. Prices for other essential items like laptops, tablets, and shoes are expected to skyrocket even higher due to Trump’s tariffs, with analysts projecting a 30% rise in the price of computers and a nearly 40% increase in the cost of footwear and other apparel in the coming months. As American consumers struggle to cope with this runaway inflation, Republicans’ only response has been to gloat about the billions of new tax dollars they’ve extracted from the families who can least afford it.
For struggling families already hit by rising costs, Trump’s pledge to “get your energy prices down by 50%” is yet another broken promise. In fact, electricity costs are rising more than twice as fast as overall inflation — surging by 5.5%. But instead of working to lower those costs by promoting new sources of energy, Trump and his GOP allies are making the problem even worse. After Republicans used their Big, Ugly Bill to strip away nearly all tax incentives for wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects, the Trump administration is now instructing its agencies to cancel nearly completed offshore wind projects in a “governmentwide attack” on this valuable source of clean power. Instead of fulfilling Trump’s pledge to restore American energy “dominance,” Republicans are systematically dismantling our nation’s growing clean energy industry — reducing the supply of power and forcing working families to face ever-growing energy bills.
American households aren’t the only ones suffering under the weight of Trump’s backward economic policies. Overall U.S. manufacturing contracted for a sixth straight month in August, and businesses large and small are struggling to stay afloat as Trump’s tariffs wreak havoc on their industries. While major manufacturers like John Deere lay off hundreds of American workers amid skyrocketing commodity prices and sharp profit declines, smaller firms like those surveyed by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) are reporting even deeper troubles. One respondent from the trucking industry described the current business environment as “much worse than the Great Recession of 2008-09,” a development they said was “100 percent attributable to current tariff policy and the uncertainty it has created.”
Too afraid of crossing the President to stand up for their own constituents, Congressional Republicans have completely surrendered their constitutional responsibility to provide a check on Trump’s power — an abdication of duty that hurts American families more and more every day. But while the GOP has ignored the real pain this administration is causing for working Americans, my Democratic colleagues and I are fighting these actions with every tool we have.
Courts have ruled against Trump’s attempts to bypass Congress’s power of the purse by blocking the implementation of some sweeping tariffs. Developers in several states are bringing lawsuits against the administration to reverse stop-work orders on offshore wind projects. And I have joined my colleagues across district lines to outline the cruel cuts this administration is making and to give voice to those whose own GOP representatives have failed to show up for their communities.
With the return of Congress to Washington this month, I’ll keep reminding my GOP colleagues who they really work for — and I’ll continue fighting to build an economy that works for every American.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates, announcements, and recommendations from governments and agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- The application period for Water Infrastructure Improvement (WIIA) and Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure Grants (IMG) is open!
- These programs help municipalities upgrade their wastewater and drinking water infrastructure through competitive grants.
- $325 million is available for this most recent round of funding.
- Applications must be submitted using the online Application Form located on the website of the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC).
- Applications are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, September 12th.
- You can click HERE to view a recording of a webinar that includes important information about these grants and how to apply.
- Any community in need of assistance with its water infrastructure is encouraged to contact EFC’s Community Assistance Teams.
