Republicans are largely unfazed by roiling stock markets and rising prices at the pump from the Iran war, even as the economic volatility threatens to weigh down the GOP in the midterm elections.
The party is forging ahead with a fingers-crossed strategy that stocks will stabilize and increasing gasoline prices will eventually fall, but Congress remains at the whims of a president and administration officials as they offer conflicting accounts of the war’s progress and how long it may last.
“It will take a couple of weeks, but gas prices will come back down,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters Tuesday during a House GOP retreat in Miami, Florida.
Back in Washington, his Senate counterpart offered similar assurances. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said the “best thing that we can do” to combat gas prices was to continue the status quo: keep a record amount of domestic oil production flowing each day.
“I am, obviously … always concerned about the price of oil, the price of gasoline,” Thune said. “I think the best outcome is a fairly speedy resolution to the operations that are underway.”
Gas prices — one of the biggest daily economic indicators for Americans — and stock market turmoil can quickly sour voters’ opinions of the incumbent party heading into elections, and there’s often little that Congress or the White House can do to drop prices significantly. But President Donald Trump’s war, which he launched without approval from Congress, could single-handedly upend the GOP’s midterm messaging on affordability.
Oil prices fell Tuesday after Trump vowed the war would end “very soon,” comments that later appeared to be undercut by War Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the conflict would not cease until “the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” Despite lower oil prices, markets remained higher than before the war, and stock markets have seen similar wild swings. Gas prices have climbed to an average of $3.54, up from $2.92 one month ago, which Trump downplayed to ABC News as a “little glitch” from the war.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), a leadership member who chairs the Senate’s environmental committee, urged a “little bit of patience” on gas prices and advocated against “any drastic moves” from Congress or the administration that could exacerbate the situation.
Iran’s stranglehold over the Middle East’s Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway where 20% of the world’s daily oil is no longer able to traverse on ships without threat of attack, is to blame for the global upheaval in oil markets. The Trump administration has weighed U.S. Navy escorts for oil tankers in the region to deter further Iranian attacks.
Even centrist Republicans who aren’t afraid to criticize Trump or their party were in lock step on the wait-it-out messaging tactic.
“If you would have asked me what to expect prior to striking Iran, I would have predicted a big increase in gas prices and a drop in stock market. This is normal,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who’s not seeking reelection. “Let’s win this war against a country who has been killing Americans since 1979. The stock market and gas prices will soon normalize.”
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Meanwhile, Democrats are seizing on the opportunity to dunk on Trump and Republicans after years of ridicule over higher costs from inflation under the Biden administration.
“His war with Iran means more inflation in America, and not just in gasoline,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. “It will cut across the board, as we’ve seen before when oil prices go up. Donald Trump is causing chaos in our economy.”
