Democrat Lawmakers Rip Trump Over Economy Despite Strong Jobs, Cooling Inflation
Democratic lawmakers are pummeling President Donald Trump over lingering affordability woes even as fresh government data show the U.S. jobs market outperforming forecasts and inflation easing faster than expected.
The clash underscores how sharply divided Washington remains over the state of the economy, with Trump touting the latest reports as proof his agenda is working while Democrats insist many families still feel squeezed by high prices and uneven wage gains.
The latest Labor Department report showed employers adding well over 100,000 jobs in January as unemployment ticked down, beating most economists’ projections and extending a months‑long trend of steady hiring.
At the same time, inflation cooled to its lowest level in months, with consumer prices rising at roughly a mid‑2 percent annual pace, a slowdown that has given the White House fresh ammunition to claim victory over the price surge that began under President Joe Biden.
Trump and his aides have seized on the numbers as validation of his second‑term “America First” economic program built around tariffs, deregulation and incentives for domestic manufacturing.
They point to moderating gas and grocery prices, a roaring stock market and improving consumer confidence as evidence that the president has not only tamed inflation but also restored momentum to an economy they say was left “broken” by his predecessor.
Democrats, however, say the headline figures don’t match what many people feel in their wallets.
They argue that the overall level of prices for essentials like food, rent and utilities remains significantly higher than before the pandemic, leaving households struggling to catch up even as the pace of inflation slows.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading Democratic critic of Trump’s economic policies, accused the president of “declaring mission accomplished” while millions still grapple with stubborn costs.​
She noted that grocery and housing bills are still rising in many parts of the country, saying Trump is “very proud” of an economy that remains “less affordable for American families” than it was just a few years ago.​
In the House, Budget Committee ranking member Rep. Brendan Boyle zeroed in on Trump’s tariff strategy, calling it a “massive hidden tax” on consumers and small businesses.​
Boyle said Trump promised to “end inflation on day one” but has instead overseen the highest tariff levels since the Great Depression, a posture he argues has driven up costs across supply chains and eroded purchasing power.
Other senior Democrats, including Ways and Means veteran Rep. Richard Neal, have warned against reading too much into one month of upside surprises.
They point to a longer stretch of relatively modest job growth and persistent cost pressures as evidence that the president’s policies have not delivered the broad‑based relief many voters were expecting.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has kept up a steady drumbeat on affordability, repeatedly framing the election‑year debate around what he calls the “cost‑of‑living crisis” under Trump.
Jeffries and other Democratic leaders say their members will continue to highlight kitchen‑table concerns such as rent, groceries and medical bills, arguing that those factors will outweigh monthly data points when voters head to the polls
Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to run on the new numbers, casting Trump as the steward of a resilient economy that has managed to tame inflation without triggering a recession.
With both sides telling sharply different stories about the same reports, the latest jobs and inflation data have become yet another front in a high‑stakes messaging war that will help shape how Americans judge Trump’s economic record