Rising Costs Get Attention From Trump and the Fed: Starting Line

Inflation Reaction

If you think you’re paying too much for, well, everything, next week may leave you with the feeling that Washington understands.

The Federal Reserve, which tweaks interest rates to try get the economy in balance, is widely expected to reduce rates again when its policy-making committee meets Wednesday.

Before that, look for President Donald Trump to build on his blame-Joe-Biden messaging with an event in swing-state Pennsylvania. Tuesday’s road trip was scheduled after cost-of-living concerns helped Zohran Mamdani win a mayoral race in New York City, and Democrats leveraged “affordability” into gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia.

“The word affordability is a Democrat scam,” Trump told reporters this week. “They had the worst inflation in the history of our country.”

On Capitol Hill. Republicans are struggling to craft a message on affordability with the White House providing no help, Mica Soellner reports.

• “I don’t know that costs have gone up a lot, but they haven’t gone down,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said. “That’s the problem. There’s a lot of inflation.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) urged the public to “relax,” arguing that tax provisions and other benefits from the reconciliation bill passed earlier this year will soon kick in. Read More

Inching Along

Congressional leaders say they’re almost done with closed-door negotiations on the annual defense policy bill, Roxana Tiron reports.

Among issues slowing things down: a large housing package and a provision that all active-duty troops are covered for fertility services, including in vitro fertilization, under the military’s health insurance. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she’s furious at Speaker Johnson (R-La.) for trying to strip out that provision.

Next week on Capitol Hill also will include debate on the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, Lillianna Byington reports. Senate Democrats — who aren’t numerous enough to win anything without Republican support — say they’ll put a three-year extension on the floor.

On the House side, there’s some actual bipartisanship but no consensus on the levies yet, Maeve Sheehey reports. Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) unveiled a plan for a one-year modified extension, while Johnson said Republicans are working on their own health-care bill. Read More

Besides extending the ACA subsidies for a year, the Kiggans-Gottheimer plan would restrict eligibility and extend when Americans can enroll in Obamacare insurance policies until March 19, Caitlin Reilly and Erik Wasson report. At least a dozen House Republicans expressed support for the legislation. They largely represent competitive districts or areas with especially high portions of residents who obtain insurance through ACA exchanges. Read More

WATCH: House Minority Leader on Bloomberg

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) will speak to Bloomberg at 9:10 a.m. about the health-care fight, Pete Hegseth and other matters. Tune in here.

Next In Redistricting

One state’s House district lineup is now settled for 2026 while other states will be working next week on boundary-shuffling.

The one that’s locked down: Texas. The Supreme Court is allowing the state to proceed with congressional elections under revised lines designed to wipe out five Democratic districts, including that of Rep. Henry Cuellar, who just won a Trump pardon. Candidates have a filing deadline Monday. Read More

Indiana and Missouri are the next states to watch, Greg Giroux reports.

Indiana’s state House is set to pass a new congressional map today. Then its GOP-led Senate would begin considering it Monday.

Even after intense lobbying from the White House and threats from Trump, it’s unclear if they can corral enough votes for a 9-0 GOP gerrymander designed to oust Reps. Frank Mrvan and Andre Carson, Indiana’s only two Democratic lawmakers in Washington.

In Missouri, opponents of a Republican remap targeting Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) have until next Thursday to submit enough signatures to block the map and force a voter referendum.

And the Florida House’s congressional redistricting committee will meet Wednesday to hear a presentation on congressional redistricting law. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is pushing for a new 28-district map in the spring.

SNAP Threat

The bureaucratic tug-of-war between blue states and the MAGA-red administration could enter a new phrase next week.

As Skylar Woodhouse reported, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she is considering pulling food benefits from several Democratic-led states unless they provide identifying information on the 42 million Americans who get grocery help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

• “States, including California, New York and Minnesota, blue states continue to say no. So as of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply,” Rollins said earlier this week.

Besides the states named by Rollins, 19 Democratic-led states haven’t submitted the requested information, while Guam and 28 states have done so, according to USDA. Read More

Before You Go

Still Standing: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s missteps might have led to him being fired in Trump’s first term, but for now, he’s maintaining White House support, Nick Wadhams reports. Read More

Vaccine Vote Today: The vote on slowing the schedule of hepatitis B shots was postponed until today after members of a CDC advisory panel expressed confusion over what they were voting on, Jessica Nix reports. Children need three doses of that vaccine, usually given throughout the first year of life, to be considered fully vaccinated. Read More

Tough Role: Increasingly cranky House Republicans are retiring, blocking bills, threatening to force votes over the speaker’s objections, and growing more openly critical of their leadership. The sour mood raises questions about what Republicans can accomplish with their slim majority before November’s midterm elections, and how they’ll stop a steep slide that has coincided with a dip inTrump’s approval ratings and influence. Maeve Sheehey and Jonathan Tamari connect the dots. Read More

• Sheehey and Tamari have more in today’s edition of Congress Tracker.

X Fined: A decision by the EU to hit Elon Musk’s social media site with a $140 million fine for violating content-moderation laws is likely to raise tensions with the White House, Gian Volpicelli and Samuel Stolton report. Vice President JD Vance said yesterday — in a post on X — the EU should be “supporting free speech and not attacking American companies over garbage.” Read More

They’re Staying: A federal appeals court says Trump can keep thousands of National Guard troops in DC for now, temporarily halting a district judge’s ruling that declared the deployment unlawful. Zoe Tillman reports that the Justice Department was ready to go to the Supreme Court if the three-judge panel ruled against it. Read More

More News to Know

• The Ultimate Legal Fight Over Who Decides the Rules in America
• Trump Squares Off With San Francisco in Sanctuary City Rematch
• Grand Jury Declines Again to Indict NY’s James in Fraud Case
• Trump, Sheinbaum to Meet for First Time at World Cup Event

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