Most Americans want the next Congress to zero in on bringing down the cost of living and wrapping up the war with Iran, according to a new survey.
Roughly 80 percent of the 1,119 people who responded to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll said lowering prices should rank among lawmakers’ highest priorities in the 120th Congress.
About 70 percent of respondents said Congress should also make ending the Iran conflict a top priority. The war is nearing the eight-month mark and has claimed the lives of 21 U.S. service members. It has also coincided with gas prices averaging more than $4 per gallon.
The pressure on Americans’ wallets shows up in the government’s own numbers. According to the consumer price index, annual inflation climbed from 2.4 percent in February to 3.7 percent last month. Energy prices were up 20.4 percent compared with a year earlier, after posting their largest monthly jump since March, the first full month of the war.
The findings arrive as both parties battle over who should control Capitol Hill for the rest of President Trump’s second term.
Democrats are looking to take control of Congress, and their lawmakers and candidates have campaigned on blocking Trump’s tariffs and forcing the president to end the war with Iran.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., went after the president and his allies on the campaign trail this month, pinning the blame for rising costs squarely on the GOP.
“Two years ago, Donald Trump and MAGA extremists promised that they were going to lower the high cost of living on day one. But costs haven’t gone down, costs have gone up,” Jeffries said.
Republicans, for their part, have made the case that they should stay in power so they can help Trump carry out his agenda following former President Biden’s four years in the White House.
The president and GOP leaders have also gone on offense, slamming Democrats as “communists” after several left-wing candidates won primaries earlier this year.
But the poll suggests that advancing the president’s agenda is not at the top of most voters’ lists. Only about 2 in 10 respondents said they want Congress to prioritize backing Trump’s agenda.
Even among Republicans, support for that goal was limited. Roughly 4 in 10 GOP respondents said Congress should make supporting the president’s agenda a priority, a modest showing for Trump’s policies within his own party.
The numbers underscore just how central pocketbook concerns have become heading into the fight for control of the next Congress. With inflation ticking higher, energy costs climbing and drivers paying more than $4 a gallon at the pump, voters across the board appear focused on relief at the checkout line and the gas station.
At the same time, the Iran war remains a major point of concern for the public, with a clear majority of respondents saying lawmakers should work to bring the conflict to a close.
Both parties are now pitching themselves as the answer to those worries, with Democrats targeting the president’s tariffs and war policy, and Republicans arguing they need to remain in charge to see Trump’s agenda through.
The AP-NORC survey was conducted from Oct. 8-12 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
