UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES / From the desk of Tom Cole
Since assuming office, President Joe Biden has issued an unprecedented number of unchecked executive orders that have undoubtedly hindered the United States’ economy from fully recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. After two years of financial hardship under his presidency and Democrat control in Congress, I was proud that the House passed the Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation (REIN IN) Inflation Act last week to provide a long-needed check on this administration.
In January of this year, the president’s own Department of Energy calculated that his first executive order revoking the Keystone XL pipeline permit cost the economy between $3.16 and $9.6 billion. The cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and several other anti-American energy executive orders have caused the prices of fuel, energy and nearly every good and service to rise as a domino effect.
Last week, a report published by LendingClub found that 60% of Americans, including 45% of high earners, live paycheck to paycheck due to inflation. Inflation is a tax on all Americans, and skyrocketing prices have unfortunately caused more and more Americans to rely on credit cards, cut back on saving money and even dip into savings to get by.
The REIN IN Inflation Act would require the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors and Office of Management and Budget to publish the inflationary impact of executive actions projected to cause an annual gross budgetary effect of at least $1 million before enacting them.
It would also require the White House to report these findings to Congress each year, increasing transparency and accountability between lawmakers and the Executive branch.
While the prices of groceries, energy, household necessities and almost everything else have continuously risen, and year-over-year wage growth has continued to decrease during President Biden’s tenure, this should serve as a wake-up call that he must reverse course. Those leading this country should first consider their policies’ effects on the American people and the economy.
Although this action taken by House Republicans would certainly be a step in the right direction, unfortunately, our nation’s economic crisis cannot be solved until Democrats and President Joe Biden hang up their costly Green New Deal policies. However, in the interim, I am committed to working with my colleagues to hold accountable and provide oversight for the Biden Administration and Democrats’ reckless spending habits.
