Republicans stress over economic whiplash from Iran conflict [View all]

Source: The Hill

04/21/26 6:00 AM ET


Republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm over how voters view President Trump’s handling of the economy after Iran announced over the weekend it would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, raising the prospect of high fuel prices through Election Day.

Growing Republican concern about a likely voter backlash in November has spurred some Republican senators to call for their leaders to broaden the scope of the pending budget resolution to address cost-of-living issues, including housing, gas and medical costs. Facing pressure from GOP colleagues, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Monday acknowledged that Republicans could do more in a new budget reconciliation bill to address the economy.

“I think elections generally are about the economy. I think most people are pocketbook voters. Yes, we need to be speaking to the needs of the American people. I think we’ve done a lot of that. If there’s more that we can do, I’m certainly open to it,” he said. “I think that some of our colleagues have good ideas about how to approach it,” he said.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) warned fellow Republicans that their failure to emphasize economic issues such as affordability could cost them control of Congress after November. “If we lose the midterms, it will be because we didn’t talk about what moms and dads are worried about when they lie down to sleep at night and can’t, and that’s primarily the cost of living,” he said on Fox News’s “The Big Weekend Show.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5840070-republicans-economy-trump-iran/