The Bills Are Too Damn High
Gas. Electricity. Groceries. Health care. President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have added at least $2,072 in new costs to the average household since Trump took office — and as much as $3,569 for families who buy their own insurance through the ACA marketplace. Every dollar of it traces back to votes in the Republican-led Congress.
of Americans say their cost of living is up. They're right — and it's no mystery why.
Source (opens in new tab)You're not imagining it.
Life got more expensive this year, and most people can feel it. It isn't bad luck or "just the economy." Since President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress came into power, their policies have raised the price of everything it feels like — filling the tank, keeping the lights on, buying groceries, and seeing a doctor.
The Receipt
Here's the tab since President Trump entered office this term.
President Trump started a war. You're paying for it at the pump.
Trump's war with Iran pushed the national average from $2.97 a gallon to more than $4.00. He admitted he knew prices would jump. Congress voted to keep the war going more than ten times before the House finally acted in June — long after the price spike had already hit.
On pace for about $715 a household by year's end.
He promised to cut your power bill in half. It went up.
Instead of cheaper energy, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" gutted the tax credits building cheap wind and solar — and your bill went up, not down. Surging demand from data centers was already pushing rates higher; the repeal made it worse. Republican governors, power companies, building-trades unions, even his own tech allies warned this would happen. Republicans in Congress passed it anyway.
On pace for about $270 a household by year's end.
A Trump tax on almost everything you buy.
Trump's reckless tariffs have hit nearly everything from nearly everywhere — coffee, tomatoes, furniture, appliances, even prescription drugs. The Supreme Court struck them down. Within days, the administration replaced them with a new 10% tariff under a different law. Congress held vote after vote and never shut it down.
The single biggest hit to your wallet.
It gets even worse if you buy your coverage on the marketplace
Trump and his Republican allies in Congress let your coverage get more expensive.
Congress let the health care tax credits expire, and marketplace premiums jumped 58% at the start of the plan year. A typical family of four will pay about $2,994 more over the full year — roughly $1,497 of it already — and 24 million Americans got the bill.
Shown as the mid-year figure so far. About $2,994 over the full year.
The bottom line
What the average household has already paid this year.
If you buy your own health insurance.
And the meter is still running. On the current path, that's $3,168 for the average household and $6,162 for marketplace families by New Year's Eve.
Same paycheck. Higher bills.
Don't take our word for it. They were warned.
Every one of these costs was predicted out loud, in advance, by the people who'd know.
“If you take renewables and storage off the table, we’re going to force electricity prices to the moon.”
— John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, 3/17/25
Source (opens in new tab)“We were all set to rise to $3.10–$3.25 a gallon with a peaceful Persian Gulf. We’ll now get there very quickly and the action of the last 48 hours puts higher numbers in play.”
— Tom Kloza, Oil Analyst, 3/1/26
Source (opens in new tab)“The tariffs would reduce after-tax incomes by 3.5 percent for those in the bottom half of the income distribution and cost a typical household in the middle of the income distribution about $1,700 in increased taxes each year.”
— Peterson Institute for International Economics, May 2024
Source (opens in new tab)“If Congress does not extend enhanced PTCs after 2025, we project that these gains will be reversed, and 4.8 million people will become uninsured. […] In 2026, we project that average net premiums, the portion paid by individuals or households after PTCs, will be over four times as large ($919 versus $169) for people with subsidized Marketplace coverage and incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.”
— Urban Institute, 9/17/25
Source (opens in new tab)They knew. Republicans voted for it anyway.
Trump couldn't do it alone.
A president can start a war and sign a bill — but he can't do any of it without the votes. Thirty-one times, members of Congress had a clear, on-the-record chance to stop these costs: end the war, save the energy credits, kill the tariffs, extend the health care help.
What's it costing your state?
Some states got hit harder than others. In Pennsylvania, the average family is already out $2,182 — $3,695 if they buy their own coverage. Pick your state and see your number.
Health care figures reflect a family of four buying marketplace coverage; gas and utility costs are state averages.
Did your representatives vote to raise your bills?
Pick your state and district. We'll show how your two senators and your representative voted — and the dollars they put on a household like yours.