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WASHINGTON – Republicans say they want to address voters’ concerns about affordability and the high cost of living, but they are struggling to craft a legislative agenda and messaging strategy to match.

This week, Republican senators are set to block an extension of enhanced health care subsidies for more than 20 million people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. Without the subsidies, premiums are expected to skyrocket for those participating in Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges, as well as for some people in the private health insurance market.

Meanwhile, major bipartisan legislation aimed at boosting U.S. housing construction, which passed unanimously in the Senate Banking Committee with the support of the White House, was removed from the annual defense spending bill due to House GOP opposition, in another setback for efforts to lower prices.

“Trump claims he wants to reduce housing costs, but his allies in the House just killed a bipartisan bill that the Senate unanimously passed to do just that,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a mail online. “If Republicans continue to block legislation to reduce housing costs, Democrats will pass it ourselves when we take back Congress.”

The gap between what Republicans want to sell voters and their actions highlights how difficult it will be for the GOP to rebuild its policy position on affordability, just a year after Trump took office thanks to voter anger over high prices under former President Joe Biden.

TO YouGov/Economist poll published last week found that only 32% of voters approve of how Trump is handling affordability, compared to 59% who disapprove.

The Trump White House and Republican leadership are trying to ease concerns about the issue, with Trump making a trip to northeastern Pennsylvania to sell his economic record, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and others saying voter sentiment will improve after voters see the supposed benefits of the GOP budget bill passed earlier this year — a piece of legislation that polls show most voters loathe.

“We look forward to seeing all the provisions of that bill implemented, starting really in earnest in the first part of the year,” Johnson said last week. “The first quarter and the second quarter will be a very different scenario.”

Julia Demaree Nikhinson via News

Trump has often tried to dismiss voters’ concerns about affordability, undercutting his own advisers and allies who urge him to focus on the key issue ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Last week, in a clip that will likely appear in Democratic campaign messages, Trump dismissed the word “affordability” as a hoax and a “scam” led by Democrats.

“I inherited the worst inflation in history,” Trump explained during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “There was no affordability. No one could afford anything. The prices were tremendously high.”

But some members of his own party are fighting back, warning that the GOP could suffer in next year’s elections if they don’t do more to address the costs.

“Affordability is a real issue,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a one-time Trump ally who has since feuded with the president, said in an interview broadcast Sunday with News’ “60 Minutes.” “It’s one of the biggest problems. Not just in my district. It’s all over the country.”

“Even if the affordability narrative is overcome, there will be a number of sympathetic cases that Democrats will use in next year’s campaigns,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told News themezone. “I think it goes beyond the basic message of affordability and encompasses real-life examples affecting target states. Mine is certainly one of them.”

Prices rose 3% in September from a year earlier, according to the latest government data, meaning inflation remains a full percentage point above the level authorities consider ideal.

“Biden’s inflation was 9%, we’re at three, but people don’t feel better now. They’re not. They’re still having a hard time at the grocery store,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told News themezone.

Trump’s main economic policies are tariffs and tax cuts, although the cuts he signed into law this year are mostly a continuation of previous cuts that otherwise would have expired at the end of the year. And tariffs are making things more expensive, a fact the administration acknowledged Monday as it proposed a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers amid Trump’s trade war.

“I feel like the tariffs are undermining the economic recovery, and I know a lot of people who aren’t willing to talk about it on our part feel the same way,” Bacon said. “The president needs to realize that tariffs don’t help with the cost of living, so we got to work on that.”

Democrats, meanwhile, believe the pivot by Trump and the GOP will simply be too little, too late.

“If Trump comes in and tries to talk about affordability, he’s going to lose,” New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who scored a massive victory in November by focusing on affordability in a campaign against a Trump-backed opponent, told reporters at the Democratic Governors Association conference in Phoenix on Saturday. “It is increasingly obvious to the American people that all of their promises to reduce their costs have not been fulfilled.”

Electricity bills too was shot for many Americans this year amid Trump’s war on renewable energy like solar and wind. Overdue balances increased nearly 10% from a three-month period in 2024 to the same time this year. according to a recent analysis.

He gasoline priceMeanwhile, it has remained relatively low this year, in an area of ​​good news for the Trump administration.

On health care, few Republicans have offered several plans as alternatives to Obamacare, but they have been unable to unite around a singular bill ahead of a vote later this week on a Democratic proposal to extend the enhanced subsidies for three years. One proposal, from a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, would extend premium subsidies for two years with an income cap to exclude higher earners. A similar proposal, from Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bernie Moreno (R-Pa.), would also eliminate zero-premium plans by requiring enrollees to pay at least $25 per month.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), meanwhile, has been floating a plan that would replace Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies with a taxpayer-funded Health Savings Account. The White House has embraced the plan, but Democrats criticized it, saying it would leave people with serious illnesses without health insurance.

Going out of town for the Christmas holidays later this month without a unified health care plan would give Democrats another chance to hit Republicans when ACA subsidies expire on Jan. 1.

“Trump talks a lot about affordability, but he’s done nothing to help make health care more affordable, and the impact on people is going to be enormous,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) told News themezone.

Kevin Robillard contributed reporting from Phoenix.