Republican Senate Pushes Affordability Bills Amid Midterm Anxiety

In the final weeks before the November 3 midterm election, Senate Republicans returned to Washington to schedule a vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act—legislation that would require state utility regulators to consider making large electricity users, such as data centers, pay for grid upgrades. The move follows a narrow 49-50 defeat of a war-powers resolution that would have compelled President Donald Trump to halt U.S. military action in Iran. Both actions highlight the party’s scramble to address soaring energy costs while distancing itself from Trump-era policies.

UsNews and World Report

• President Trump’s war with Iran, launched on Feb. 28 2024, has driven gasoline and diesel prices to record levels, with AAA reporting diesel topping $6 per gallon.

Newsweek

• A Reuters/Ipsos poll released in late August found 47 % of voters cite the cost of living as the single most important issue for the November vote.

Time Magazine

• Republican approval of Trump has slipped; a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows party support fell nine points to 73 %, while his overall approval sits near historic lows.

Rolling Stone

• The Ratepayer Protection Act cleared the House 417-3.

‘We’re gonna get crushed’: Republicans privately say they’re doomed in the midterms

• The war-powers resolution failed 49-50 in the Senate, with only four GOP senators joining Democrats.

PBS News Hour

• 19 U.S. service members have been killed in the Iran conflict, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates the war has cost the federal government nearly $40 billion in its first four months.

The Guardian

• Sen. John Thune, Senate Majority Leader, argued that showing independence from Trump on local issues is the most effective way for GOP candidates to win.

UsNews and World Report

• Sen. Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader, labeled Husted’s bill “a fraud” and urged passage of the GRID Savings Act, which would make data-center cost contributions mandatory.

UsNews and World Report

• Democrats contend the Ratepayer Protection Act is voluntary and insufficient, insisting that only a mandatory framework can shield consumers from data-center-driven rate hikes.

UsNews and World Report

• Some Republicans, notably Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), argue that ending the Iran war while U.S. forces remain in contact would be unwise, underscoring intra-party disagreement over the conflict.

USA Today

• “They say they're for more affordability. This is a chance for everybody to prove it,” — Jon Husted

UsNews and World Report

• “The best use of time right now would be figuring out maybe how to suspend the federal gas tax so that we can get prices down, how to cap the price of insulin so that we can get medical prices down, trying to do everything we can to lower every piece of cost of living that we possibly can before this Congress leaves. I mean, that to me seems awfully urgent to voters,” — Sen. Josh Hawley

CNN

• “We need to stop the contagion,” — senior GOP official

Politico

• A procedural vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act is slated for the Senate next week; Democrats plan to introduce the GRID Savings Act as an alternative.

UsNews and World Report

• Lawmakers are expected to bring additional war-powers resolutions to the floor before the November 3 election, keeping the Iran conflict a focal point of the campaign.

PBS News Hour

• Republican candidates in vulnerable races—such as Ohio’s Husted, Michigan’s Mike Rogers, and Iowa’s Ashley Hinson—are likely to continue emphasizing affordability measures while navigating the party’s split over Trump’s war policies.

CNN