Inflation

The Fed Can't Fight Inflation Alone. Will Congress Do Its Part?

Lawmakers have to show they'll back the national debt with future fiscal surpluses, which means reining in government spending.

Veronique de Rugy | 9.17.2026 3:45 PM

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(Illustration: Adani Samat/Midjourney)

Inflation hasn't gone away—it's going up. With the midterm elections seven weeks off, that's a problem for the president and Congress. Voters hate inflation. They don't much like the cure either, and the cure has two parts. The Federal Reserve raising interest rates, like it just did, is one. The second part is overlooked and in the hands of Congress. Indeed, the Fed can't bring inflation down for good unless lawmakers show they will back the debt with future fiscal surpluses. That means becoming serious about overspending.

The Consumer Price Index shows prices rising by 0.4 percent over the past month, and by 3.4 percent over the last 12 months. The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, isn't especially reassuring, either.

Oil and gas prices, which have climbed due to circumstances in Iran and elsewhere, account for a substantial share of that increase. But Americans nonetheless understand the big picture: Nearly six years after our generation's "Great Inflation" began, overall prices continue to rise much faster than they should, and well above the Fed's 2 percent annual target.

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