The Results Are In: Bidenomics Is a Complete Failure

Over the last several months, President Joe Biden has desperately traversed the country trying to resuscitate his plummeting poll numbers and reassure American families that his economic agenda is working. He claims that multi-trillion-dollar investments in green energy and excessive government spending will propel our economy into unprecedented heights of American prosperity.

In other words, he is intentionally misleading Americans with the message that his fiscal policies—which he has coined "Bidenomics"—are beneficial. Fortunately, in poll after poll, the American people resoundingly reject Bidenomics because they see everywhere—from the gas station to the grocery store to their credit-card statements—that the Biden administration's economic agenda has failed. Injecting trillions of dollars into our economy didn't deliver financial relief; it fueled the worst inflation crisis in more than 40 years.

Naturally, President Biden ignores the reality of his economic policies. Thanks to Bidenomics, American families' credit card debt has reached a record $1 trillion as people struggle to pay their bills and feed their families under the weight of inflation. The dream of home ownership has slipped out of reach for countless Americans as mortgage rates approach 8 percent and banks tighten their lending requirements. Sixty-one percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, gas prices are once again spiking nationwide due to the Biden administration's anti-American energy policies, and American households have lost, on average, $33,000 in real wealth this year alone. No wonder almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the president's economic initiatives.

To make matters worse, the federal deficit—which was originally projected to return to pre-COVID levels—is now expected to double this year to $2 trillion, accelerating the catastrophic consequences of our $33 trillion national debt on our economic vitality and national security. This is one of many reasons why Fitch Ratings—one of the largest credit rating agencies in the country—recently downgraded our creditworthiness, pointing to our deteriorating fiscal stability and ballooning national debt.

While House Republicans didn't create this mess, we are working hard to clean it up. Since the beginning of the 118th Congress, we have passed strong legislation to rebuild our economy, rein in the power of the executive branch, restore the congressional power of the purse, end wasteful spending, and reduce costs for American families.

To date, President Biden's overreaching regulations and burdensome red tape have cost American workers nearly $10,000 per household. His 122 executive orders have saddled our families, farmers, and businesses with $1.5 trillion in additional and unforeseen expenses.

Republicans passed both the REIN IN Inflation Act and the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act to curb record-high inflation sparked by President Biden's wasteful spending policies and costly executive orders. These two pieces of legislation would require federal bureaucrats to report to Congress the estimated inflationary impact of any executive order before an official vote and ensure that every new "major rule"—that is, any rule with an annual effect on the American economy of $100 million or more—be approved by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate before taking effect.

We also took aim at President Biden's attempts, through the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to increase mortgage payments for homeowners with higher credit scores and redistribute those funds to individuals with low credit scores at a time when home mortgages are increasingly unaffordable. It is estimated that this policy could swell mortgage payments for responsible taxpayers from anywhere between $400 to $1,200 per year. Our Free Market Mortgage Act—which passed the House—repeals this unfair rule. On top of higher costs and unrelenting inflation, we should never stick our families with more taxes and more fees.

Finally, we voted to overturn the Biden administration's $400 billion student loan bailout. People who did not attend college and pursued other opportunities, or who saved their money and paid their own way through school, should not be forced to subsidize and eliminate student loans. As hardworking taxpayers know, debt cannot be erased, and student loans are no different. A loan is the exclusive responsibility of the individual who signed the papers—nobody else. We are grateful that the Supreme Court recognized this obvious fact when it rightly ruled President Biden's student-loan giveaway unconstitutional.

The American people elected a Republican House majority based on our promises to reignite the American economy, support American workers, and end the wasteful government spending that has plagued our nation's capital for far too long. Together—on behalf of the American people—we will continue our important work to create jobs, grow our economy, lower taxes for our families, restore fiscal responsibility, and—of course—send Bidenomics to the trash where it belongs.

This op-ed was originally published in Newsweek on September 20, 2023.