Press Releases

WASHINGTON, August 12, 2022 — House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (LA-04) released the following statement today after House Democrats passed $740 billion in higher taxes and additional government spending with no Republican support:

“Inflation is at record highs, the economy is in recession, and Congressional Democrats just passed an additional $740 billion in government spending and higher taxes. This is legislative malpractice and should more appropriately be named the ‘Inflation Expansion Act.’

“This bill will raise taxes on the middle class and increase prices for consumers. It will send hundreds of billions of tax dollars to green energy slush funds, paid for by sending 87,000 new IRS agents to audit middle class Americans.

“With a 50-50 Senate and a razor-thin House majority, any single one of them could have helped stop this 730-page disaster, and none of them did. Passing this bill required many Democrats to ignore prior promises to their constituents. I suspect many others already knew they won’t be back in Congress next year, so they didn’t care about the tremendous costs to our country.

“Over the next few years, as Americans wonder why consumer prices stayed high and the economy stayed in neutral—while the global climate remained unchanged—they should recall this clueless gang of Washington Democrats who thought that more government spending would ease inflation, that higher taxes would grow the economy, and that government-issued green energy subsidies could change the weather.”

Congressman Johnson is the Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, and a former constitutional law litigator.