House Republicans Make Cost-of-Living Crisis Worse, Side with Billionaires and Big Corporations
Republican Financial Services and General Government Funding Bill Benefits Fraudsters and Makes Communities Less Safe
WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Republicans today released the draft fiscal year 2026 Financial Services and General Government funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation benefits billionaires, big corporations, and the well-connected at the expense of the working class, the middle class, and vulnerable Americans. It makes communities less safe and enables individuals to commit fraud and sell dangerous products.
House Republicans are proposing an 11 percent cut below 2025 to the bill’s overall funding level. It includes $23.2 billion, a decrease of $2.9 billion, below 2025.
This legislation:
- Promotes corruption by billionaires and large corporations by decimating tax enforcement and drastically underfunding the corporate watchdog that ensures markets are fair and protects investors from bad actors.
- Leaves consumers vulnerable to scams and predatory junk fees by cutting funding for the Federal Trade Commission, allowing greedy corporations to continue price gouging. These changes increase the cost of living for working class, middle class, and vulnerable Americans.
- Enables individuals to sell dangerous products and puts children at risk by cutting resources for the Consumer Product Safety Commission and including harmful extreme policies that side with big corporations over Americans.
- Makes our elections less secure by cutting the funding for the Election Assistance Commission.
- Includes over 60 new, problematic, or pointless policy riders on topics such as the IRS Free File, consumer safety, and abortion. Additionally, instead of addressing the issues that matter most to the American people, House Republicans are micromanaging the District of Columbia’s health and traffic laws.
“Republicans were not content with lowering taxes on the wealthiest individuals; now they want to make it easier for those same high-earners to evade their taxes altogether,” Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Steny Hoyer (D-MD-05) said. “This partisan bill will cost hardworking Americans billions of dollars in lost tax revenue by cutting the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement mission. The Republican legislation also aids Donald Trump and Russell Vought's effort to traumatize federal workers through DOGE efforts and by maintaining the freeze the administration put on civilian employees' pay. As the Trump Administration continues to politicize and weaponize every institution in the federal government, we cannot allow the same to happen to the appropriations process. Congress is supposed to empower the American people, but this Republican Majority continues to show that it’s interested in empowering only one person: Donald Trump.”
“President Trump and Republicans are not laser focused on the cost-of-living crisis,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “The Financial Services bill is meant to protect everyday American consumers, secure our elections, and make our economy work for hardworking people. Instead, House Republicans’ 2026 Financial Services funding bill is a shocking disgrace. Republicans have managed to keep resources for Russ Vought’s Office of Management and Budget steady, but their cuts are endangering children and letting scammers take advantage of senior citizens. This will hurt Americans while letting the biggest corporations price gouge and pay no taxes.”
A summary of House Republicans’ 2026 Financial Services and General Government bill is here. A fact sheet is here. The text of the bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.
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