Ranking Member Maxine Waters: “After Nearly Two Years of Helping Donald Trump and His Administration Create the Very Affordability Crisis Families Are Facing Today, Republicans NOW Want to Hold a Hearing About It”

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee delivered the following statement during a full Committee, hearing entitled: “Strengthening the American Economy: Promoting Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity.”

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I really should be angry about what is happening in this country and with this economy. But I’m not, because now I know that the American people have really began to understand why, where it’s coming from and not only what is happening to them, but the fact that it seems a very few on the opposite side of the aisle are willing to fight and stand up to the President and represent the people.

After nearly two years of helping Donald Trump and his Administration create the very affordability crisis families are facing today, Republicans NOW want to hold a hearing about it. Well, Democrats will not let you sweep your abysmal record under the rug or pretend you had nothing to do with this mess. So, since Republicans have finally decided they want to talk about affordability, come on, let’s talk.  

Let’s start with Republicans’ complete failure to rein in Trump’s pointless and costly wars, which have poured gasoline on this affordability crisis. When Trump launched his reckless and endless war with Iran, Republicans did nothing to stop him. Oil prices soared, diesel shot above $5.60 a gallon, and American families got stuck with the bill. Every farmer running equipment, every trucker delivering goods, every small business moving products, and every family buying groceries is paying the price. 

Families are being squeezed so badly that they are taking out loans just to eat. Nearly one third of Buy Now, Pay Later users are using these loans—a form of short term lending—are using the loans for groceries, and nearly half of those consumers say it is the only way they can afford the purchase. Yet, at the very moment families are becoming more dependent on these loans, Trump and his team are gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau including stopping protecting BNPL consumers from predatory practices.  

Trump’s Administration has waged a relentless campaign to cripple the CFPB, the federal watchdog protecting Americans from scams, predatory practices, abusive debt collection, and costly credit-reporting errors. Republicans even helped overturn a rule that would have removed an estimated $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of 15 million Americans. And yesterday, every Republican on this Committee sponsored a bill to make Trump’s attack on the CFPB permanent.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates have climbed back up to 6.7 percent, home sales are falling, and homeownership is slipping further out of reach. Americans are delaying buying homes and building wealth because they simply cannot afford to get ahead under this Administration. 

But not everyone is struggling. The Trump family is now worth roughly $10 billion, fueled by crypto schemes cashing in while Trump occupies the White House. Trump, who failed at running an actual casino, is Making Gambling Great Again through prediction markets. His son, Don Junior, has financial interests in both Kalshi and Polymarket which have become a safe -spaces for insider trading tied to government actions. Trump is also selling early access to his market moving Truth Social posts for one hundred thousand dollars giving Wall Street information before the public. 

Despite knowing all of this, Republicans are trying to jam through sweeping crypto legislation without any safeguards to stop the Trump family from profiting off the crypto industry his Administration regulates. 

Where are the Republican investigations? Where is the outrage from the party that says they love law and order?  

Even though Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act to stop fraudsters from hiding behind shell companies, Trump unilaterally and unlawfully gutted it and Republicans stuck their heads in the sand. 

Committee Democrats are actually doing the work to lower costs, including delivering the most significant housing legislation in decades to build more homes and expand homeownership. The Chairman talked about bipartisanship, that’s  the only bipartisanship we can point to and we did that. Trump called it a “big yawn” and could not even be bothered to sign it. 

I yield back but I got more to say.