From Gas Pumps to Grocery Aisles, Families Feel the Squeeze

By Stacy M. Brown

Senior Global Correspondent

This also appears in the Washington Informer

Americans are paying more for gasoline, electricity, groceries, home heating, and other necessities than they were when President Joe Biden left office, raising new questions about economic promises that helped return President Donald Trump to the White House.

Across the country, families continue to face rising costs that touch nearly every aspect of daily life. The increases are showing up at gas stations, in grocery stores, on utility bills, and in household budgets already stretched by years of inflation and economic uncertainty.

According to several surveys, when Biden left office, gasoline averaged $3.13 per gallon nationally. Today, the average stands at $4.59. Electricity averaged 17.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. It now averages 22.7 cents. Crude oil has climbed from approximately $70 per barrel to $124 per barrel. Heating oil has increased from $2.50 per gallon to $4.99.

Food prices have increased as well. Beef that averaged about $5.50 per pound now costs roughly $8.49. Bread that averaged about $2 per loaf now costs approximately $2.69.

For many, those increases are measured in decisions about whether to fill a gas tank, postpone a doctor’s appointment, delay a home purchase, or cut back on groceries.

Trump campaigned heavily on lowering prices and bringing immediate relief to consumers. During the 2024 campaign, he repeatedly argued that Americans were better off financially during his first administration and promised to quickly reduce costs that had become a source of frustration for voters.

More than a year after his return to office, critics say many of those promises remain unfulfilled.

Labor advocates, civil rights leaders, educators, and Democratic lawmakers have pointed to rising consumer costs while questioning policy choices that have directed federal attention toward immigration enforcement, trade disputes, and cuts to programs they say help working families.

The concerns are particularly acute in Black communities, where families have historically possessed less household wealth and fewer financial reserves to absorb rising prices.

Data has consistently shown that Black households are more likely to spend larger portions of their income on housing, transportation, utilities, food, and healthcare. As those costs increase, many families have fewer options to cushion the impact.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi has argued that several Trump administration policies have placed additional pressure on Black Americans through changes affecting economic opportunity, healthcare access, education, voting rights protections, and federal investments in underserved communities.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation has raised similar concerns through its Executive Order Tracker, which monitors federal actions affecting Black Americans. The organization has examined executive actions involving education, housing, healthcare, civil rights enforcement, workforce development, environmental justice, and economic opportunity.

Meanwhile, Republicans have moved forward with another $70 billion funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The proposed package follows approximately $75 billion approved for ICE and CBP in July 2025. According to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, that funding exceeded the entire budget of the United States Marine Corps by nearly $20 billion.

If approved, total funding for the agencies would reach approximately $145 billion.

According to the senator’s office, $70 billion could fund universal pre-kindergarten for every three- and four-year-old child in the United States for two years.

The same amount could provide free childcare for 1.3 million children through September 2028. It could cover two years of community college tuition for 2.2 million students through September 2029 and double Pell Grants for undergraduate students entering college.

Warnock’s office also calculated that $70 billion could cover the annual grocery costs of approximately 10.7 million American households.

The funding could provide free school lunches for 22.7 million additional children through fiscal year 2029 and deliver one year of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to 31 million Americans.

Healthcare advocates point to similar possibilities.

According to one analysis, the money could expand Medicaid coverage to 2.2 million additional Americans through September 2029, extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, pay for all annual insulin expenditures in the United States three times over, and cover nearly one-third of the nation’s medical debt.

Housing remains one of the largest expenses confronting families, particularly in cities such as Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

Another estimate suggests that $70 billion could cover one year of rent for approximately 4.25 million Americans. The same funding could provide $40,000 in down-payment assistance for every first-time homebuyer this year, expand Section 8 housing assistance to 2.4 million more Americans through September 2029, and fund efforts capable of ending homelessness for nearly eight years.

Trump supporters contend that larger security and immigration enforcement are essential responsibilities of the federal government and argue that stronger enforcement protects national security and public safety.

Opponents counter that Americans struggling with grocery bills, rent payments, childcare costs, utility bills, and healthcare expenses are looking for relief that has yet to arrive.

“The $70 billion that Senate Republicans will force through this week could fund universal pre-K for all 3-and 4-year-olds in this country for two years,” Warnock said. “It represents the annual cost of groceries for nearly 11 million American households. Our government doesn’t suffer from a lack of resources. We suffer from a lack of imagination.”