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Joint Economic Committee Democrats

Issue Briefs

Aug 24 2026

Trump and Big Oil Raked in Profits While Americans Paid More at the Pump

The Joint Economic Committee – Minority finds that so far this year, President Trump saw his
wealth go up by as much as $15.5 million just through stocks he owned in oil and gas companies at the end of 2025. These companies’ profits and stock values are rising because Trump’s reckless war in Iran has caused gas and oil prices to skyrocket. The Committee finds that President Trump owned as much as $45.6 million in oil and gas company stocks in 2025, a portfolio that is now worth as much as $61.1 million given the surge in oil and gas stocks driven by Trump’s war in Iran.

Aug 13 2026

BY THE NUMBERS: The President Gains While Average Americans Lose

Recent financial disclosures show that President Trump reported at least $2.2 billion in income in 2025, which is more than three times higher than what he made in 2024. Trump’s earnings last year came largely from new ventures such as the Trump memecoin – which made him around $636 million while nearly 1 million individual people who invested in the coin lost, in total, billions of dollars. Trump also profited from Trump and Republican Party events at his properties, and from significant transactions that Trump enterprises conducted with foreign companies and foreign governments. In addition, Forbes reported that in 2025 Trump was having the "most lucrative year of his life" while serving as the country’s highest ranking public servant.

Aug 04 2026

A Public Health Crisis and Broken Market, “Superbugs” Cost the United States At Least $5.7 Billion a Year

“Superbugs” – types of bacteria or fungi resistant to standard antibiotics – represent a significant threat to Americans’ lives. According to the latest estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), superbugs – also called antimicrobial resistance – infect more than 2.8 million people each year in the U.S., and more than 35,000 people die as a result.

Jul 30 2026

Senator Hassan Presses AI Model Platform on Need to Combat Nonconsensual Deepfakes

U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, today pushed Hugging Face, a platform for sharing and using AI tools, to prevent people from using the platform to create nonconsensual deepfakes that depict sexual content of women and children. This comes after public reporting and research from the technology watchdog AI Forensics that found serious problems with the company’s approach to protecting against this type of activity.

Jul 29 2026

Senator Hassan Presses Sado Capital on Management of Mobile Home Communities in New Hampshire

U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, today pressed Sado Capital, a real estate investment firm, on the impacts of its business practices on residents of manufactured housing communities in New Hampshire. In recent years, firms like Sado Capital have increasingly purchased manufactured housing communities, including The Meadows of Hopkinton – a 70-lot manufactured housing park in Contoocook, New Hampshire. Earlier this year, Senator Hassan launched a survey for Granite Staters to detail their experiences at mobile homes and visited The Meadows of Hopkinton. In addition, the NH Attorney General recently began an investigation into Sado Capital.

Jul 23 2026

State-by-State Data — Rising Diesel Prices Significantly Increased Farmers’ Costs During the 2026 Planting Season

President Trump campaigned on lowering prices for farmers, but his actions have instead led to the opposite result: American farmers are facing skyrocketing costs. Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran drove up the cost of diesel fuel just as farmers were set to start their spring planting – a process that requires millions of gallons of diesel fuel across the country. This comes after Trump’s tariffs have already significantly increased costs for farmers and made it more difficult for them to plan for the future. These increased costs harms are likely to further contribute to rising grocery costs.

Jul 02 2026

Tax and Tariff Impacts in 2026 by Occupation and Income

The Joint Economic Committee – Minority calculated how the combined effects of President
Trump’s current tariffs, and Trump and Congressional Republicans’ tax policies (signed into
law last year as the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill) are impacting the finances of a typical
firefighter, teacher, truck driver, and other jobs. The Committee found that even after the
Supreme Court blocked some of Trump’s tariffs, working families continue to pay the price
for Trump’s remaining tariffs. Workers across sectors– including public safety,
manufacturing, and health care–lose hundreds of dollars in 2026 because of the combined
impacts of Trump’s tax and tariff actions.

Jun 23 2026

Increased Uptake of Business Tax Cuts Could Help Address Child Care Shortages

Parents in the United States face a child care system plagued by workforce shortages, long
waiting lists, and expensive care. Parents can wait as long as two years for a childcare slot that costs $13,184 a year on average per child across age and type of care and often costs much more. Businesses, the economy, and the strength of America’s workforce suffer due to these challenges. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that the lack of affordable and reliable childcare will cost the U.S. economy as much as $329 billion over the next ten years. This cost is paid for by families and businesses alike.

Jun 11 2026

PRESCRIPTION FOR HARM: DRUG-RELATED CONTENT AND MODERATION EFFORTS ON THE SPOTIFY PLATFORM

U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, released today the results of her investigation into scams and drug-related content on Spotify, a major music streaming service. The report details the company’s efforts to identify and take action against more than 57,000 podcast episodes with drug-related content, but also notes that Spotify only took these actions after extensive public reporting and correspondence between Spotify and the Joint Economic Committee - Minority over the course of the investigation. Spotify also did not report to law enforcement any of the content that it removed in the six-month period that the Committee investigated.