Lowering Cost Caucus wants to Make America Affordable Again
But first they’ll have to face a parade of lies about the Big Beautiful Bill
Donald Trump signed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” into law—and now he’s hitting the road to sell it as a win for the middle class.
Don’t buy it.
Backed by millions in special-interest campaign ads, Trump allies are trying to rebrand a deeply unpopular disaster. But the numbers don’t lie.
The bill slashes health care and could kick 17 million people off their coverage.
It guts clean energy tax credits—killing jobs and cutting off investment.
And it showers the ultra-wealthy with deficit-busting tax breaks, fueling inflation and making it even harder to buy a house or a car.
And that’s on top of Trump’s trade war—which is already driving up prices on everything from groceries to school supplies.
So while Trump spins on stage, a new group in Congress is focused on facts—and solutions.
Last week, Michigan’s Rep. Hillary Scholten helped launch the Lowering Cost Caucus, alongside Reps. Greg Landsman, Derek Tran, Sarah Elfreth, and Maggie Goodlander. Their goal? Take on the real affordability crisis crushing working families.
Scholten isn’t your typical politician. She’s a minivan-driving mom from Grand Rapids—where she flipped a red seat blue in 2022 by running a grassroots campaign focused on cost. She won re-election even as Trump carried Michigan.
“When we were knocking on the doors earlier today, from health care to housing to the cost of just getting around, whether it's gas in the tank or public transportation... You know, people are feeling like they don't have enough to even get by, let alone get ahead,” Scholten said during her campaign.
She’s right. And she’s not alone.
Greg Landsman, a dad from Cincinnati, ran for Congress on a focused message: “Washington is making it harder to raise a family. That has to change.”
He just won re-election with 55% of the vote.
Landsman isn’t mincing words:
“The economy has been broken for a long time and folks are struggling to pay all of their bills. Unfortunately, it’s getting worse. The Administration launched a global trade war which has caused everyone to cut back and raise prices,” Landsman said.
Just ask Donovan Auto & Tire in his district—struggling to keep up with costs driven by tariffs they didn’t ask for.
Out west, Derek Tran flipped the closest House race in America—winning his Orange County district by just 600 votes. He and his wife run a local pharmacy. They have three young kids and daycare bills.
“I hear from families across California that they struggle to afford daycare, groceries, gas, and so much more,” Tran said. “My wife and I pay thousands of dollars in daycare bills. Almost everyone in my district talks about how unaffordable daycare is. For too many families, the cost is too high.”
Sarah Elfreth, a newly elected House member from Maryland, is still paying off her student loans. She’s renting a home, hoping one day she can afford to buy.
“The reality for too many Americans is that the cost of housing is out of reach. It’s more expensive to send an infant to daycare than to send your 18 year old to the University of Maryland. Energy bills cost a small fortune for so many families across this country,” Elfreth said.
For Maggie Goodlander in New Hampshire, affordability is her top priority.
Goodlander said 70% of people in her state are skipping doctor appointments or prescriptions—because they can’t afford care.
Throughout the Granite State, Goodlander is seeing the effects of Washington “waging chaotic and lawless trade wars that are jacking up costs, across the board, for hard-working people, that are putting small businesses out of business.”
This is the real crisis: Americans crushed by prices, while Trump throws them a parade of lies.
The Lowering Cost Caucus has plans to travel the country, hear from people who are getting squeezed, and bring those voices to Washington.
They’re not just fighting Trump’s broken policies.
They’re looking for solutions that will help your bottom line.
Because while Trump is raising costs on middle class families to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy, Rep. Scholten and these leaders are trying to make America affordable again—for the rest of us.
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Has your member of Congress joined the Cost Caucus? Encourage them to join by contacting them here.