PHILADELPHIA – House Democrats got another dose of bad economic news Thursday during their annual retreat in Philadelphia, as the government reported inflation hit an annual rate of 7.9% last month, further complicating Democrats’ hopes of maintaining their narrow majority in November.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, who chairs the House Democrats’ campaign arm, acknowledged that rising gas prices could be an issue for the party as it hits voters’ pocketbooks. Amid 40-year-high inflation and Russia’s war with Ukraine, the national average for a gallon of gas in the U.S. hit $4.31 on Thursday.
“It’s a real problem,” Mr. Maloney told reporters. “We have to focus on it not for political reasons, but because it affects the working middle-class families like the ones so many of us grew up in.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington Democrat who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said inflation is a challenge, but she blamed it on supply-chain issues that were exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.
“We do have supply chain issues. Everyone knows that,” Ms. Jayapal said. “I think inflation is sometimes a consequence that we have to work through.”
Republicans are making it clear they intend to make inflation a top campaign issue in the fall.
“House Democrats have no reason to be optimistic, which is why so many of them have retired. Voters know Democrat policies are responsible for soaring inflation, skyrocketing violent crime, and a growing border crisis,” said Mike Berg, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Still, House Democrats say they are hopeful of maintaining their narrow majority this fall, despite added frustrations over their stalled social agenda. They cited strong fundraising numbers and victories on passing COVID relief and other smaller bills as successes they can promote to voters ahead of the midterms.
Mr. Maloney said Democrats are in a bullish position when it comes to campaign cash and overall redistricting maps in the country.
“I want to make sure people understand we’re beating them on fundraising,” Mr. Maloney told reporters. “There are outside groups raising a lot of money, and we want to take that very seriously, [but] we are outperforming them both on the direct race and cash on hand.”
The chairman said vulnerable Democratic candidates have a roughly $80 million advantage over GOP opponents.
Despite the cash haul the majority party has secured, lawmakers are worried that their inability to deliver big-ticket promises like voting rights and social program expansions will suppress support in November.
Ms. Jayapal said the major goal for her party is to return to the priorities in the stalled $2 trillion Build Back Better bill, which she referred to as “Voldemort” — the villain in Harry Potter which she said should not be named.
Ms. Jayapal was instrumental in the negotiations of the Build Back Better bill that ultimately failed in the Senate due to opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat. No Republicans supported it.
“We’re going to try to get almost anything small that’s doable, that’s important,” Ms. Jayapal said. “We’ll try and get those done, but we’re going to keep working on the big pieces of legislation.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, New York Democrat, was more assertive in the need to get these social priorities passed if Democrats want to have any kind of success in November.
“It’s important,” Mr. Bowman told reporters. “We’ve talked about it a million times, universal child care, all that stuff that was in BBB, as much as we can get done and get across the finish line, we need to do so.”
Roughly 100 members of the caucus are at their annual retreat. Mr. Biden will cap the conference with a speech on Friday.
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