Republican senators on Wednesday blasted the Biden administration for rising inflation after a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found a 9.1% spike for the 12 months ending in June, the highest level in four decades.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) said tax increases under consideration in revived negotiations for a scaled-back version of President Joe Biden’s sweeping social welfare and green energy bill would raise consumer prices further, targeting the people Democrats “say they champion,” including low-income workers.
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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said, “There’s an old expression that when you find yourself in a hole, quit digging. But that seems like what the Biden administration continues to do.”
Cornyn called inflation a “silent tax” and argued the administration doesn’t understand the problem of “supply and demand” in energy production, contributing to increased costs.
Increasing domestic energy production would lower costs, Cornyn argued.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) compared Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia to one made by President Jimmy Carter and argued that it would lead to similar results.
“History is repeating itself,” he said.
Biden has said his trip will focus on security concerns, but oil is also expected to be a topic of the trip.
Voter concern about rising inflation has cut into Biden’s approval ratings leading up to November’s midterm election cycle, a weakness Republicans have argued will help them reclaim congressional majorities.
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In a statement, Biden called the inflation rate “unacceptably high” but argued that the data contributing to it are “out of date,” and he pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and COVID-19 as other factors.
“Inflation is our most pressing economic challenge,” Biden said. “It is hitting almost every country in the world. It is little comfort to Americans to know that inflation is also high in Europe and higher in many countries there than in America. But it is a reminder that all major economies are battling this COVID-related challenge, made worse by Putin’s unconscionable aggression. Tackling inflation is my top priority — we need to make more progress, more quickly, in getting price increases under control.”
