President Donald Trump admitted this week he's failed to convince Americans the economy is actually working, as Senate Republicans head home for the midterms carrying real fear that the party hasn't done enough to address voters' financial pain.
Despite passing a major tax cut law last year, Republicans worry they haven't shown voters they're tackling high gas prices, stubborn inflation, and steep interest rates threatening their House and Senate majorities in November, Semafor reported on Thursday.
"If you're not worried, you're living in a cave," Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) told the paper. "There's no question that there's people out there that are hurting." He warned frustration runs deep even among Trump's most loyal supporters back home, suggesting MAGA voters who've grown fed up with an unpopular Congress might simply skip the ballot box entirely.
Trump himself acknowledged the messaging problem directly. "I've done a very bad job of explaining how good the country is doing," Trump said Wednesday.
The anxiety runs across the party. Some House members want lawmakers to return to Washington specifically to address fuel costs, and many senators believe leadership erred by not staying in session longer to work on affordability issues. Battleground races are increasingly being fought entirely on cost-of-living grounds, the same vulnerability that sank Democrats in 2024.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) argued the constant campaign focus on affordability is itself proof Republicans haven't delivered. "If we had done enough, our constituents wouldn't be continuing to raise it, and it wouldn't be the No. 1 thing that everyone's campaign is talking about," she said.
Vulnerable incumbents including Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jon Husted (R-OH), along with open-seat candidates in Iowa, North Carolina and Texas, are feeling the squeeze, as Democrats also target red-state senators like Roger Marshall (R-KS), Darline Graham (R-SC), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS). Republican leadership's own attempts at addressing costs have stumbled, too: a Husted-sponsored bill on data center utility costs failed in the Senate, and a separate transparency measure on medical pricing from Marshall never even came up for a vote after Sen. Rand Paul objected.
Even the lawmakers behind these fixes think Washington still has work to do, with both Husted and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) telling Semafor they'd like to see the party push harder on affordability, even as members facing tight races are increasingly eager to leave Washington and focus on campaigning instead.
Not every Republican agrees drastic action is needed. Marshall blamed lingering effects from the Biden administration for current economic struggles, while Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said recent briefings from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett left him optimistic that conditions are already improving.
Still, with Trump's 2025 signature tax legislation failing to meaningfully boost the party's standing and Trump's own popularity sagging, Republicans largely retain hope for the Senate but increasingly see their House majority as already gone.