Representative Tran, Lowering Costs Caucus Leaders Push Back on President Trump’s “Affordability Hoax” Comment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lowering Costs Caucus Co-Chairs U.S. Representatives Derek Tran (CA-45), Hillary Scholten (MI-03), and Greg Landsman (OH-01), pushed back against President Trump’s recent comments claiming that the affordability crisis is a hoax. During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Trump asserted that affordability “doesn’t mean anything to anybody,” and that rising costs are a “fake narrative” created by Democrats.
“We founded the Lowering Costs Caucus because affordability is not a slogan - it’s a call to action. President Trump’s claim that ‘affordability doesn’t mean anything to anybody’ is an insult to the millions of American families who are struggling to pay their bills and keep food on the table. Affordability means everything to the parents working multiple jobs, seniors living on fixed incomes, and young people trying to build their future,” said Representative Tran. “Washington politics as usual isn’t working. Americans are working harder than ever just to scrape by, and instead of listening to their concerns, President Trump is shutting them out. I’ll keep fighting to challenge the status quo keeping American families stuck, and deliver real economic relief to our communities.”
“Make no mistake, the affordability crisis is real, and it is crippling the American dream. The only people who don’t realize that are the out of touch billionaires that the president continues to put before American families,” said Representative Scholten. “I founded this caucus so that like-minded members of Congress could come together and focus on solutions that will lower everyday costs for hard-working American families. We are going to continue doing that every day.”
“The affordability crisis didn’t start 10 months ago — families have been feeling this for years. But this administration has made it worse, from cutting healthcare to pushing sweeping tariffs that drive up prices,” said Representative Landsman. “The Lowering Costs Caucus is focused on fixing what’s broken and building an economy that works for the vast majority of Americans, not just the super-wealthy.”
As a founding member of the Lowering Costs Caucus, Representative Tran is committed to uplifting commonsense legislation that delivers meaningful economic relief for hard-working families. Most recently, Tran joined members of the caucus to send a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson to extend the Affordable Care Act’s cost-saving provisions. Caucus leaders also introduced H.R. 4962, the Toll of Tariffs Act, to expose the true cost of President Trump’s tariffs on our economy.
As part of the Congressional Dads Caucus’s ‘Babies Over Billionaires’ initiative, Representative Tran introduced the Baby Food Tax Relief Act to ensure that tariffs don’t drive up the cost of essential baby feeding products, including highchairs, bottles, and formula. Tran also joined Representative Kathy Castor (FL-14) to introduce the Keep Kids Covered Act, which would ensure uninterrupted access to affordable health care for all children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He has consistently rejected legislation that would increase the cost of basic necessities like food and health care, including voting against the partisan budget proposal that would eliminate billions in funding for Medicaid and SNAP.
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Congressman Derek Tran represents California’s 45th Congressional District. Serving his first term in Congress, Congressman Tran is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Small Business Committee, where he is Ranking Member of the Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations Subcommittee. Congressman Tran is the son of Vietnamese refugees, a Veteran, and fought for consumers as an attorney before entering Congress.