Americans rightfully expect Congress to come together and find solutions to reversing the sharpest rise in cost of living in 40 years, to help lower gas prices, and secure our border.
Work to find solutions to reverse rising cost of living, help lower gas prices, and secure the border.
Occurrences
Americans rightfully expect Congress to come together and find solutions to reversing the sharpest rise in cost of living in 40 years, to help lower gas prices, and secure our border.
Evidence
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Smith said Republicans would work to lower gas prices and utility costs by restoring energy independence and would make sure border patrol and law enforcement have the resources to regain control of the southern border.
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Smith said he supported H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which he coauthored to increase domestic production, reduce regulatory burdens, and lower gas prices.
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Congress.gov shows H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, passed the House on 2023-05-11 by a 219-213 roll call vote and remained a House-passed bill, not enacted into law.
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Smith said the Working Families Tax Cuts were enacted in 2025 and delivered tax relief, including bigger deductions and no tax on tips, overtime, and Social Security, to help working families.
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Smith said Republican policies were raising wages, increasing take-home pay, and helping working families and small businesses as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts.
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Smith said inflation and gas prices had fallen to their lowest levels in five years and tied that to affordability gains for Missouri families.
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Smith said March PCE data showed core inflation holding at 0.3 percent and argued that working-class families have more money in their pocket thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts; he also said prices on everyday items like eggs, dairy, and used cars were lower than on January 20, 2025.
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Smith said the tax agenda had already produced concrete relief, including over 6 million Americans claiming no tax on tips, over 25 million claiming no tax on overtime, over 30 million taxpayers claiming the Social Security deduction, and over 1 million claiming no tax on auto-loan interest.
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Smith wrote that the border had been secured for the first time in 50 years and that border crossings had decreased more than 90 percent from the 2022 peak, while urging continued enforcement against criminal aliens and narcotics traffickers.
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Treasury says the Working Families Tax Cuts delivered $82 billion in individual relief through the April filing deadline; 97% of filers received a tax cut, with relief concentrated among low- and middle-income households.
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Smith says the Working Families Tax Cuts delivered record-setting tax relief to working-class Americans and that core inflation is 2.8 percent today versus 6.2 percent at the same point under Biden, while also saying there is more work to do.
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Smith says affordability is the top concern, notes the recent increase in gas prices has driven inflation higher, and says prices may return to historic norms as tensions ease while tax cuts continue to provide relief.
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Smith said that during his August Farm Tour he heard concerns at every stop about rising food, fuel, and fertilizer costs; he said higher input costs were making it harder for farmers to make ends meet and pointed to higher reference prices he fought to include in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, with payments set to start in October 2026.
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CBP’s official GovDelivery bulletin linked to a CBP update stating that DHS and CBP announced 15 consecutive months of zero releases at the border and described the period as continuing historically low border crossings.
Assessments
Smith materially advanced affordability relief through enacted 2025 tax changes and continued policy work, and there is later-term federal evidence of substantial border-security improvement. But the promise bundled three broad outcomes: reversing cost-of-living increases, lowering gas prices, and securing the border. The evidence shows partial relief and claimed progress, not full independent proof that rising costs were reversed or gas prices were durably lowered; Smith also acknowledged ongoing affordability and fuel-cost problems. His House-backed border and energy bills show serious effort, but the full combined outcome was not delivered.
This was a three-part federal policy promise, and Smith only partially delivered it. He can claim meaningful credit for the cost-of-living portion because Smith-backed Working Families Tax Cuts were enacted and later produced concrete tax relief for households. He also materially advanced legislation on gas prices and border security, including support for H.R. 1 and House passage of H.R. 2, which shows serious effort. But the broader promise was not fully achieved: evidence in 2026 still described gas prices as recently rising, and the border-security record rests largely on Smith's own claims rather than a clearly completed Smith-driven outcome. Because one component saw real delivery while the gas-price and border pieces remained incomplete or only partly advanced, the overall judgment is partial, with the strongest delivery occurring in a later term.
Smith materially pursued all three parts of the promise through House Republican tax, energy, and border legislation and later official claims of affordability, gas-price, and border progress. The strongest delivered component is affordability-related tax relief tied to his Ways and Means role and enacted in 2025, but the broader promise to reverse rising cost of living, lower gas prices, and secure the border is not fully proven by the evidence. H.R. 1 and H.R. 2 show serious same-term legislative effort on energy costs and border security, but they did not themselves become fully enacted solutions in the cited evidence. Later-term evidence supports partial progress, not full delivery across the whole compound promise.
Smith made concrete efforts on all parts of the promise, including backing House-passed border legislation and coauthoring energy legislation aimed at lowering gas prices. He also materially advanced affordability policy through the 2025 Working Families Tax Cuts, which supports partial fulfillment on cost-of-living relief. However, the evidence does not show the full promised outcome was delivered: the major border bill was not enacted, the energy bill did not itself lower gas prices through enacted law, and later claims of lower inflation or gas prices are not enough to credit Smith with fully reversing cost-of-living increases or securing the border. Because the strongest enacted affordability evidence came after the original campaign term, timing is later_term.
Smith made concrete same-term efforts on all three areas, including House passage or support for major energy and border bills, and there is evidence of enacted affordability-related tax relief in 2025. However, the evidence does not show the full promised outcome was achieved: the major border bill was not enacted, the energy/gas-price effort did not by itself become law or prove lower gas prices, and only part of the cost-of-living agenda appears delivered. Because there was serious legislative activity but incomplete delivery across the promise, the best outcome is partial with an effort badge.