EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Mike Johnson says pushing down the cost of living is at the top of the Republican agenda as the Congressional session winds down. He lays out a mix of regulatory rollbacks, tax changes, and targeted healthcare work aimed at giving Americans immediate relief. The plan leans on pro-growth tax policy and permitting reforms to cut energy and consumer costs while codifying key executive orders.
Johnson told reporters the focus is clear: deliver measurable affordability gains fast and leave the legacy of Washington largesse behind. “We have a lot of executive orders that we want to continue to codify through the end of the year. We’re still doing regulatory reform to end the Biden-era regulations. We did some of that this week,” Johnson said. Republicans are framing that move as a practical way to free businesses and lower everyday prices.
Time is short in this session, but leadership is pressing to convert policy into relief before recess. “There’s a lot of initiatives left on the table, things for us to do and a short amount of time to do it in. But we’re really bullish about the ideas that we’re bringing forward over the next few weeks and in the coming months about reducing the cost of living.” The pitch is simple: take action now, and let markets respond.
Affordability is being treated as a political and economic priority from the top down. He said “affordability” was “the buzzword of the day.” That framing lets Republicans tie multiple items—tax law, energy, healthcare—into a single promise voters can track.
Johnson insists healthcare must be part of the solution, not left as an afterthought for future fights. “We have an affordability agenda, as the president has been touting, and we have to do that in earnest. Healthcare is part of that. But it’s just the costs across the board,” Johnson said. Expect House Republicans to press on premium relief, competition, and liability reform as levers to lower bills.
The speaker did not shy from pointing fingers at past policy decisions that, in his view, inflated costs. “We the people rightfully revolted against that, and gave us the power again in January. But the economy is a very complex thing, you don’t flip a switch and just change it all in one week. It takes a while,” Johnson said. That acknowledgement is paired with a promise of steady, targeted changes rather than instant fixes.
Republican tax policy figures into the plan as a catalyst for faster growth and lower prices. “By the time we get into the first and second quarter of next year, as Treasury Secretary Bessent has said, we should have an economic boom because of all of these pieces will be coming into play. Taxes will be lower, no tax on tips and overtime, lower taxes on seniors. And then there’ll be more investment because we have all the pro-growth policies and tax policies that will allow the job creators, entrepreneurs, risk-takers, innovators to do what they do,” Johnson argued. The message is clear: cut tax burdens and unleash private-sector investment.
“Everything I just described will happen in due time, and it will. So we’re very bullish about it.” That confidence underpins the legislative calendar Republicans are setting, and it shapes how they talk about near-term tradeoffs and long-term gains. Lawmakers say they will focus on deliverables that tangibly reduce household costs.
On energy and permitting, Republicans plan to push fixes aimed at speeding projects and lowering utility bills. Committees are lining up bills to modernize permitting rules and remove bureaucratic chokepoints that drive up costs and delay investments. The goal is lower energy prices and more reliable supply, sold as commonsense reforms that help consumers.
Across the board, the approach is pragmatic and unapologetically market-oriented: remove unnecessary rules, lower real tax burdens, and make healthcare and energy more competitive. That combination is meant to give families relief in the near term while restoring long-term growth. Expect the coming weeks in the House to focus on those tangible changes rather than abstract debates about ideology.
