Press Releases

WASHINGTON — This morning, at the weekly House Republican Leadership press conference, Speaker Johnson discussed Republican efforts to drive down gas prices, rebuild the public trust in Congress through The Stop Insider Trading Act, and finish the FY26 appropriations process.

“Thanks to sound economic and energy policy that has restored American energy dominance, those days of the Biden years are over. We're going into overdrive, and we're not going backwards,” Speaker Johnson said. “This is not some talking point, this is real economic data. It proves that Trump policies, Republican policies, achieve better economic outcomes for all of our constituents, and they will reverse the Democrats' cost of living crisis.”

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.

On GOP efforts to drive down gas prices nationwide:

As of today, you've heard it referenced, 43 of 50 US states now have gas under $3 per gallon. In fact, the average national average right now is $2.79 cents a gallon for gasoline. You've got 19 states where you can buy gasoline for less than $2 a gallon, and that's a result of good policy. Now, contrast that just on the gas prices, one metric, contrast that with what we were all experiencing under the Biden administration. Despite their draining the strategic petroleum reserve to deflate prices artificially, which was a disastrous policy idea in its own right, gas prices still reached record highs. And the national average for a gallon of gasoline was more than $5 a gallon under Biden. Now it's under $3. And under the Biden years, it cost Americans more than $60 just to fill up a Honda Civic or a Toyota Camry. And now everybody's buying the big trucks again.

Thanks to sound economic and energy policy that has restored American energy dominance, those days of the Biden years are over. We're going into overdrive, and we're not going backwards. This is not some talking point, this is real economic data. It proves that Trump policies, Republican policies, achieve better economic outcomes for all of our constituents, and they will reverse the Democrats cost of living crisis.

On The Stop Insider Trading Act:

It’s no secret the public's trust in Congress has waned over time. There are a lot of reasons for that. And if you poll visitors in the CVC for example, you’d probably receive a variety of answers on what the theory is on why. Social media doesn't help, of course, because everybody can go online every two seconds and say what they're disgruntled about. And Congress takes it on the chin. But every member of this institution has a personal duty to do their part, to restore the trust of the Congress. And particularly as we begin our 250th year as a nation.

And, you know, I think this is a really important theme, but along that line, Republicans are going to take an important step in our efforts to restore the people's faith in Congress. And one of those big issues is the Stop Inside Trading Act. Now, I want to tip my hat to Congressman Brian Steil. He's the Chairman of our House Administration Committee, and he's done an excellent job navigating through the various provisions of this and all the members and making sure everybody's on board. Everybody wants to block and stop nefarious activity and insider trading. But it needed to be done in a thoughtful manner. And Brian Steil's done a great job. Members of our House Republican Conference have worked on this issue for years. And the result is a bill that I think we'll be able to pass with a hope of a wide bipartisan margin. And it's the direct result of all that advocacy, and of course, outside groups and online watchdogs that who have advocated for this kind of thing for some time. Obviously, members of Congress should not be allowed to profit from insider trading. Obviously doing so abuses the office and diminishes trust here in Congress. And it flies in the face of the oath that we all took before beginning our service here. We won't be able to change public opinion overnight. But I think with strides like this, the American people can begin to recognize again that Congress can be trusted and we're working hard, Republicans are, to earn back that trust.

On FY26 Appropriations:

This will be the second consecutive week that House Republicans will advance another set of FY26 appropriations bills. And I just want to say, I told you so. So many people in this room thought we would never do this again. And a lot of members didn't believe it either. They didn't believe we could actually break the end of year Christmas omnibus fever and all that. And we're so proud that that work has come to fruition. And so, this week, you'll see passage of the National Security and Related Programs funding bill, as well as the Financial Services and General Government funding bill. There's no omnibus, there's no CR. We really do believe we'll be able to prevent that. And a lot of hard work's gone in, I'll say, on both sides of the aisle, among the appropriators who've done a really good job. Congress is reclaiming the power of the purse. And these two bills are a big step in that. We've already, of course, passed six appropriation bills. And we'll be at eight by the end of this week and next week, the final four measures, we're very optimistic.

We put in that last bill, and we will get that over the line and get it to the President's desk for signature. This is how appropriations are supposed to work. This is how the process is supposed to work. It's a little late, but we're rebuilding that muscle memory. And you will all see that. Passing annual appropriations bills help Congress exercise our Article I authority, of course, and it helps Republicans implement our policies and things that are aligned with the administration. We cannot govern by CR or omnibus. When we do that, it also loses Congress’s opportunity and credibility. And so, we're really proud about rebuilding this muscle memory. I promised when I became speaker to jumpstart this, it's taken a while, but we are finally moving that boulder uphill, as I always say, fixing the process along the way. And that's a really important thing that everybody can take a lot of pride in.