What happened to the resilient and flourishing economy that America experienced under the leadership of President Trump? That is a question that many have been asking over the past 3 ½ years – especially as inflation has grown by leaps and bounds and signs of an imminent recession have come into full focus. As we learned late last week through the July jobs report, the economy is indeed slowing down and beginning to nosedive. It is important for everyone to understand the gravity of this situation, and what it means about the road ahead.

Before this jobs report was released, economists had predicted that 175,000 jobs would have been added in July, and that the nation’s unemployment rate would remain steady at 4.1%. The true numbers, however, were far different. Only 114,000 jobs were added during the month of July and the unemployment rate spiked to 4.3%. To be clear, 4.3% is the highest rate of unemployment since October of 2021. Let’s not forget that the Biden administration has quietly scrubbed previously issued jobs reports – as I called your attention to in January – with few noticing.

Let’s step back and look at the larger picture. In the past year – from July 2023 to July 2024 – there has been net zero job growth. What’s more, consider the following:

• Over the past 12 months, 1.2 million native-born Americans lost employment, while 1.3 million foreign-born workers found jobs.
• Since July 2023, the number of people working multiple jobs has skyrocketed by 311,000.
• Bidenflation outpaced wages for a majority of Biden and Harris’ Administration – both year-over-year real average hourly earnings and real average weekly earnings were negative for 25 months.

Now, compare the current circumstances of the American economy to what we experienced under President Trump. The difference is night and day. President Trump’s pro-growth economic policies lifted nearly seven million Americans off food stamps, accelerated rapid wage growth, yielded millions of new jobs, and produced an economy that all Americans benefited from. It’s time to return to those policies and pull this nation out of the economic rut it has been cast into by this administration.

We Remain Focused

This week, Representative Bob Good joined me in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding information about the Department of Justice’s plan for the necessary recovery of taxpayer dollars from a pension fund bailout that improperly included funding for thousands of deceased plan participants. Our letter comes in the wake of the discovery of more than $134 million in overpayments for two union plans alone. There should be full accountability for recovering taxpayer funds for improper payments to more than 60 union pension plans. Our oversight efforts will continue without delay.

To read the full letter, click here.

New Scam Alert

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently issued a new warning on the rise of back-to-school scams targeting college students and their families. From fraudulent fundraisers to rental scams, bad actors continue to find new ways to steal both personal and financial information. These kinds of scams are not confined to just over the phone – they include text messages and emails as well. As I often say, it’s important to remain armed with the facts so that you and the people you know can avoid these types of scams.

To learn more, click here.

Quote of The Week

“Economy is the method by which we prepare today to afford the improvements of tomorrow.”

-Calvin Coolidge

Have a blessed weekend,