Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) opened a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday with a blunt assessment of the country’s mood ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address: for many Americans, he said, the state of the union is “god-awful.”
The Massachusetts Democrat, who serves as ranking member on the committee, framed his opening remarks around what he described as a widening gap between Washington’s priorities and the realities facing working families. While the president is expected to tout baseless economic gains, McGovern painted a far bleaker picture—one of rising costs, public safety fears, and communities under strain.
He pointed to increases in grocery prices, rent, healthccare, childcare, college tuition, and energy bills, stating that families are being squeezed on every front. At the same time, he criticized his Republicans colleagues for repeatedly advancing legislation focused on household appliances—including dishwashers and showerheads—rather than affordability measures.
One such proposal—the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act—drew particular scorn. McGovern argued that despite its branding, the bill would raise utility costs rather than lower them. If lawmakers want to talk about “freedom,” he said, it should mean freedom from grocery price gouging, rent hikes, medical debt, and an economy that favors large corporations over working people.
McGovern Torches Trump And Republicans Over Tariff Refunds
McGovern also zeroed in on Trump’s tariff policy. He described tariffs as a de facto tax on Americans and referenced the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last Friday blocking the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping duties.
According to McGovern, the ruling raises a pressing fiscal question: what happens to the more than $165 billion collected under tariffs the Court found unlawful? He noted that administration officials had previously admitted they would need to issue refunds if the government lost in court. Now, he pointed, the White House appears poised to contest or delay repayments.
For McGovern, that contrast underscores what he sees as misplaced Republican priorities. Congress, he said, can find time to debate household appliances but not to ensure that money “taken illegally” from consumers is returned.
He closed by framing the debate as a fundamental choice between symbolic fights over appliances and substantive action on affordability. In his view, the focus should be squarely on the latter—and he called out his Republican colleagues for failing that test.
“Republicans can find endless time to obsess over stoves and microwaves, but they won’t lift a finger to make sure the money Trump took illegally actually gets back to the people he overcharged,” McGovern stated. “That’s the choice in front of us—not appliances, but affordability—and Republicans are failing.”
