'From bad to worse': GOP reeling from new economic blow

Republican lawmakers who dodged being on the ballot this November are breathing a very public sigh of relief, according to The Washington Sun.

GOP members of Congress were already under siege over President Donald Trump's tariffs and Iran-war-driven gas prices when the Federal Reserve dropped a fresh bombshell last week, hiking rates and sending things "from bad to worse."

Gas now averages close to $4.50 a gallon nationally — near the highs hit when the Iran war erupted in February — with prices in Anchorage topping $5 and reaching as much as $13.99 in Dillingham, Alaska. Diesel is at an all-time high, mortgage rates are creeping back toward 7%, and inflation has stayed above 3% since the war began.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) didn't pretend otherwise.

"It's really clumsy. I'm glad I'm not on the ballot, I know that," Cramer told the Sun. "It's hard to convince people the economy's doing great when theirs isn't." He added dryly, "Unless you're an oil man in western North Dakota, you're not really keen on high oil prices."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who lost his own primary to Ken Paxton in May, admitted a winning economic message is hard to find right now. "I think I'd talk about different things," he said, calling the rate hike "bad timing" for the party.

Making things worse: "there's little Congress can actually do about it" before members leave town later this month for good until after the election, according to The Sun.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is on the ballot, pointed to permitting reform as one unfinished item that "would demonstrate that we understand the concerns of American families."

The grumbling tracks with reports that GOP leadership is privately telling candidates to simply "do a better job" selling Trump's economy — a message even some Republicans admit isn't landing.