Ranking Member Scott: “President Trump’s failed policies and broken promises have resulted in a country where the wealthy prosper, while working families struggle to make ends meet.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Defend America Action hosted a press call with U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06), Maryland State Delegate Ashanti Martinez, and The Century Foundation Chief Economist Kyle Moore to break down the latest jobs numbers and what they reveal about Donald Trump’s economic agenda.
“The numbers are clear: President Trump’s economy is not working for workers. Inflation has outpaced wage growth in recent months. And American workers are taking home a smaller piece of the economic pie than they have in the past 70 years. This is all while President Trump himself cashes in. According to AFL-CIO, it would take the median American worker 43,000 years to earn what President Trump himself reaped in 2025. President Trump’s failed policies and broken promises have resulted in a country where the wealthy prosper, while working families struggle to make ends meet. Democrats will not sit on the sidelines while Americans fight tooth and nail to survive. Together, we are fighting to build an America that rewards hard work, grows opportunity, and gives every worker a fair shot at the American dream,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce.
“My constituents are doing everything that they’re supposed to do, and they’re struggling to just meet their basic expenses. And that’s what this economy looks like to a lot of people right now,” said U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell. “President Trump promised working people that he would make their lives more affordable. Instead, job and wage growth have slowed, and families are paying higher prices for everything. This Labor Day, we need to recommit ourselves to fighting for working men and women.”
“Between January 2025 and 2026, Maryland lost 31,000 federal jobs, and in that same period, we lost 50,000 jobs overall. Those numbers show that indiscriminately cutting federal jobs comes with impacts to our local economy, and in Maryland, we are living with those consequences,” said Maryland State Delegate Ashanti Martinez. “Groceries become much less affordable when you’ve lost your job. A mortgage becomes much harder to pay when households suddenly lose an income. Childcare, health care, utilities don’t go away because DOGE eliminated your position.”
“It’s a testament to the resilience of the American workforce that folks are finding a way to make it in spite of a ton of unforced errors coming from the administration,” said The Century Foundation Chief Economist Kyle Moore. “We’re seeing prices increase. We’re seeing erratic tariff policy. We’re looking at foreign policy that’s leading to disrupted supply lines. These are things that are causing material prices to increase, and that’s making it tougher for the American worker and their family to survive.”
A recording of the press call is available here.
# # #