{"id":19802,"date":"2026-03-09T20:46:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/rising-energy-prices-threaten-cornerstone-of-gop-midterm-pitch\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:46:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:46:58","slug":"rising-energy-prices-threaten-cornerstone-of-gop-midterm-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/rising-energy-prices-threaten-cornerstone-of-gop-midterm-pitch\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising energy prices threaten cornerstone of GOP midterm pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DORAL, Florida \u2014 The economic fallout from President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to go to war with Iran is imperiling the GOP\u2019s legislative sales pitch ahead of the midterms, with energy price spikes threatening at least some of the pocketbook gains Americans are seeing from the sweeping tax cuts Republicans enacted last year.<\/p>\n

Analysts with the Wall Street advisory and investment firm Evercore ISI estimated Monday that the impact on household costs attributable to the current crisis could erase the tax benefits from the \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d for at least the bottom 30 percent of Americans \u2014 even if oil prices come off their $100-plus-per-barrel highs.<\/p>\n

Some top Republicans acknowledged rising energy prices are cause for political concern.<\/p>\n

“The price of gas is always kind of a benchmark,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/a> told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. \u201cI do think the fact that we’ve increased our supply here domestically will help ease it, but it’s something obviously we’ve got to pay attention to. And hopefully the operations in Iran \u2026 won’t be an extended situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact of higher gas prices is hitting just as House Republicans gather for their annual policy retreat<\/a> at Trump\u2019s resort in Doral, Florida. The evidence could be seen just outside the gates, where regular gas was retailing at multiple stations for $3.59 per gallon \u2014 up about 70 cents from the Miami-area average on Jan. 1, according to GasBuddy.com.<\/p>\n

The hope among Republicans gathered at the resort is that the crisis is short-lived, with several saying they believed Trump\u2019s assurances that the supply bottlenecks caused by Iran\u2019s effective blockade of the Persian Gulf would soon ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe there’s a lot of emotion built into energy prices,\u201d Rep. Chuck Edwards<\/a> (R-N.C.) said in an interview. \u201cI would look for things to settle down very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

But other Republicans granted anonymity to speak candidly expressed real alarm as crude oil prices surged to nearly $120 a barrel overnight before settling later in the day below $90 \u2014 still about 30 percent above recent lows.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a Republican and not concerned right now, you are stupid,\u201d one House Republican said, adding, \u201cHopefully, we will square this away sooner than later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another House Republican, asked if the wartime crisis threatened to overshadow the benefits of the GOP megabill, replied, \u201cHell yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most sensitive thing amongst most driving Americans is the price of gasoline,\u201d the person added, saying it threatens to send Americans \u201cright up the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump is scheduled to address lawmakers in Doral shortly after markets close Monday, and they will be listening closely to his message on the hostilities in the Middle East and his plans to address high energy prices. He has announced plans to get oil shipments moving through the Gulf again, including by providing naval escorts for tankers and backstopping insurance for vessels.<\/p>\n

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement that oil prices will \u201cdrop dramatically once the objectives of Operation Epic Fury are achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump and his entire energy team have had a strong game plan to keep the energy markets stable well before Operation Epic Fury began, and they will continue to review all credible options,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the president so far has shown little interest in pushing his party to foremost focus on legislation tackling affordability, as some of his political aides have advised. Instead, Trump is pressing Senate Republicans to pass a sweeping GOP elections overhaul bill \u2014 adding on demands for a near-complete ban on mail voting and unrelated policy provisions like banning transgender surgeries for minors.<\/p>\n

Hours before taking the stage in front of House Republicans at his Florida resort, he reiterated his request<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even before the oil price shock, Trump\u2019s agenda had come with a hefty price tag for consumers. Analysts at the Tax Foundation have already determined that the president\u2019s trade policies cost Americans $1,000 on average last year, matching the average size of refund checks that Trump officials say will ease cost-of-living concerns.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court struck down many of Trump\u2019s tariffs, but those that remain are projected to cost households $600 on average this year, according to the nonpartisan think tank.<\/p>\n

House Republican leaders are hoping to keep the annual policy retreat focused on their legislative priorities ahead of the midterms. Rep. Lisa McClain<\/a> of Michigan, the GOP Conference chair, said ahead of the retreat she hoped to firm up the party\u2019s messaging around last year\u2019s megabill.<\/p>\n

But going into the Doral resort Monday, members were trained on all the reasons they hoped the politically perilous price spike would be short-lived.<\/p>\n

House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman<\/a> (R-Ark.) said in an interview that reopening the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz \u201cwould be even better for energy prices, although we’re seeing obviously a peak right now with the war going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Riley Moore<\/a> (R-W.Va.) said the supply crunch was \u201cnot an existential threat to us because of all the things we’ve done to make ourselves self reliant in terms of energy resources,\u201d while acknowledging the \u201cfungible\u201d nature of the global oil market. He was hopeful about more ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Rep. Carlos Gimenez<\/a> (R-Fla.) said in an interview a \u201cshort-term gas price hike is \u2026 not what’s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat’s important is the long term benefits of having a peaceful Iran that means that gas prices will drop dramatically for the long term,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m not that concerned about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Sutton contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DORAL, Florida \u2014 The economic fallout from President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to go to war with Iran is imperiling the GOP\u2019s legislative sales pitch ahead of the midterms, with energy price spikes threatening at least some of the pocketbook gains Americans are seeing from the sweeping tax cuts Republicans enacted last year. Analysts with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}