Washington, DC — Despite repeated promises to address affordability, Republicans in Congress continue to make everyday groceries more unaffordable. The data is clear: their agenda of tariffs, which congressional Republicans have supported, and massive cuts to SNAP are raising food costs while taking meals off the tables of millions of Americans.
According to a new report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, American families paid an estimated $310 more for groceries in 2025 than the year before. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index shows food prices rose 0.7 percent in December alone, continuing a pattern of rising food costs since Republicans took control of Congress. Unrig Our Economy’s site Don’t Inflate Our Plates has been tracking the rising cost of key food items such as beef and coffee, highlighting the nationwide crisis caused by Republican policies.
Rather than taking action to limit the strain their agenda is putting on working families, Republicans are downplaying the reality of the affordability crisis Americans are facing. Last Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins even suggested that families can easily make ends meet at the grocery store:
“We’ve run over 1,000 simulations. It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla, and one other thing. So there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money.”
The truth is: nearly half of Americans are struggling to afford groceries, according to a poll by Politico. But this is not a result of poor shopping choices. Rising food costs are a direct result of Republican-backed tariffs, which have caused costs to skyrocket for their constituents. At the same time, Republicans in Congress have made the affordability crisis even worse by voting for the largest cut to SNAP in history. Over 40 million Americans rely on this program to put food on the table, but Republicans in Congress put millions of working families in jeopardy by slashing SNAP.
“If Republicans in Congress would listen to their constituents rather than running half-baked ‘simulations’ on how to make a piece of broccoli and a tortilla a meal, they would know that working families are struggling to get by and that their agenda is to blame,” said Unrig Our Economy spokesperson Kobie Christian. “Instead, they continue to pursue policies that drive up prices and strip food from millions of Americans. This latest report shows that these problems are real and that Republicans are responsible. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to stop selling out working families.”
To learn more about the campaign, visit UnrigOurEconomy.com or contact press@unrigoureconomy.com
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About Unrig Our EconomyUnrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.