June 06, 2023

Chairman Aguilar: After House Republicans tried to default, the Biden-Harris economy continues to grow

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a leadership press conference on the economic progress led by the Biden-Harris Administration and House Democrats despite House Republicans' attempts to force the country to default and cause a job-killing recession.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. Vice Chair Lieu and I are happy to be here, and we’re happy to preside over the House Democratic Caucus meeting this morning. 

It’s very clear that, after House Republicans did their level best in trying to tank this economy, the Biden-Harris economy just continues to do well. Over 339,000 new jobs created in May. 13 million jobs in the Biden-Harris Administration since they have taken office. Unemployment – the lowest rate in five decades, all because of job-creating bills that were signed into law and where House Democrats played instrumental roles. 

We want to continue to build on this progress. We want to pass laws that open up clean energy projects and innovation and put people to work. We want to fully fund the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill and the CHIPS Act to ensure that we’re creating jobs for the 21st-century economy across every zip code in our country. And we want to make sure that our fossil fuel dependence continues to be reduced as well as prices at the pump. 
 
But what do House Republicans have planned? This month, they have told their Members that they are going to mark up a over $3 trillion tax cut that would help the wealthy and the well-connected at the expense of everyone else. After crowing about deficits and debts for the last few months, we know that this is exactly what they had in mind. They want to make sure that they add trillions to the deficit before the Chairman’s birthday, which has been something that he has frequently told his Members. They want to make sure that the burden that families pay continues to rise. And the American people clearly will see through this hypocrisy. They will know exactly where House Republicans stand once they mark up this bill. 

That’s what we have ahead, and House Democrats look forward to continuing to stand for progress and stand for job creation.

VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Joe Biden is the jobs president. In the first 15 months of the Biden-Harris Administration, over 10 million jobs were created, the highest in U.S. history. And as Chairman Aguilar stated last week, another terrific jobs report came out, exceeding expectations. 

Last week also showed that it was House Democrats that prevented MAGA extremists from harming American families. It was House Democrats that bailed out a Rules vote when Speaker McCarthy couldn't get enough votes to pass a rule on a package he himself negotiated. It was House Democrats that also supplied the votes to get a majority for a package that Speaker McCarthy couldn't get enough votes just for his own caucus. And despite the best efforts of MAGA extremists to crash the U.S. economy, it was House Democrats that said no and stopped that from happening. 

Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.