Democrats put grocery-price proposals on their post-election agenda

Democratic agenda targets tariffs, food assistance and state tax rules

Grocery prices had been a feature of campaign advertisements and stump speeches for months before the election. Affordability concerns, including high food costs, were top of mind for voters heading into the midterms, as the Trump administration’s tariffs and the war in Iran continued to drive up prices, and that economic strain helped Democrats win control of both houses of Congress on Tuesday.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the incoming majority would make tackling high prices a priority when it returns in January. “It was a tremendous victory for the American people and a strong rebuke of MAGA extremism, which has made life more expensive for everyday Americans despite their promises to lower the high cost of living on day one,” he told NPR on Friday.

Despite the political hurdles, Democrats said they intend to move ahead with plans to cut grocery bills, including by rolling back Trump’s tariffs. Those tariffs have not only raised the cost of certain foods and drinks imported to the U.S., but also made it more expensive to import other food-industry inputs such as machine parts and packaging.

Several incoming Democratic senators also floated proposals during their campaigns that aim to make groceries more affordable. James Talarico of Texas said he would push back against “attacks” on the federal food assistance programs WIC and SNAP, with SNAP undergoing a major overhaul by the Trump administration and a precipitous drop in participation since last summer. Kansas’ Adam Hamilton announced his support for a national ban on “dynamic pricing” in grocery stores. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and other candidates vowed to block food industry mergers they said would raise consumer prices.

Democrats also made gains in state capitals across the U.S. on Tuesday. At least 28 states will have Democratic governors beginning next year, and ten state legislative chambers flipped to Democrats, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Incoming Democratic governors offered several state-level approaches. Keisha Lance Bottoms proposed allowing municipalities in Georgia to suspend or fully eliminate their local sales tax on groceries, baby formula, diapers and more. Gina Hinojosa, the governor-elect of Texas, promised to outlaw “predatory surveillance pricing” and price gouging in grocery stores. In New Mexico, Deb Haaland said the state would explore a policy similar to one in Albuquerque that temporarily waives permitting fees for markets that sell healthy and affordable food in so-called “food deserts,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Democrats will have to work with President Trump still in the Oval Office and willing to wield his veto pen, and Senate Democrats won’t have a filibuster-proof majority. NPR identified the tariffs and the Iran war as two of the main causes of high food prices, and said Trump may have little appetite to roll back his signature tariffs or reverse course on the war.

The Iran war has led to a surge in energy prices, making transportation more expensive for almost everything. Fertilizer costs also grew when the closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off a significant portion of the global fertilizer trade. NPR reported that getting Trump to backtrack on tariffs or the Iran war — or on what NPR calls his “immigration crackdown,” which the report linked to labor shortages on U.S. farms — could prove tricky for Democrats.

Lehigh University political science professor Chris Borick said he thought the president would “certainly want to find ways to reduce the cost of groceries” and that Democrats also see that in their interest. He added, “The mechanisms, the tools, the levers that would be most readily available to do that — there’s quite a bit of distance between the president and Democrats that’ll be taking over both the House and the Senate.”

Lael Brainard, who leads a public policy group called The Kitchen Table Project, said Americans are nevertheless expecting relief from Washington — and quickly. “They are feeling like they are getting squeezed by high prices that don’t need to be that high,” she said. However state and federal officials decide to go about lowering prices, Americans say they want to see cheaper groceries soon: a September poll released by The Kitchen Table Project and Global Strategy Group found that nearly half of respondents said their most important goal was seeing their grocery bills lowered within six months.