A September inflation report released Wednesday prompted competing assessments from Democrats and the White House, less than a month before the 2026 midterm elections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in September, following a 0.4% increase in August. Over the 12 months through September, the index increased 3.7% before seasonal adjustment.
Democratic lawmakers argued that the figures reflected a failure to address the cost of living. The House Democratic Caucus said on X that President Donald Trump had promised to lower prices and end inflation, but that the opposite had occurred. Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat, said families in the Inland Empire were paying more for necessities, including gas and groceries. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts also criticized the economy, saying families were having difficulty affording basic expenses.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, connected higher prices to Trump’s policies in a post on X. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served under President Joe Biden, also blamed the administration, citing the Iran conflict, tariffs and corporate tax breaks. Those statements represent the lawmakers’ explanations for inflation; the supplied report does not independently establish the causes of the price increases.
The White House offered a different account. An official told Fox News Digital that Trump was bringing inflation down after it had been exceptionally high under Biden. The official also said food prices remained stable from the previous month. The BLS report said the food index was unchanged in September, after increasing 0.1% in each of the prior two months.
White House spokesman Matthew Middleton said the administration’s economic program had supported growth, wages and private-sector employment. He described some economic disruptions as temporary and linked them to the Iran conflict. Middleton also cited tax cuts, prescription drug costs, more than one million private-sector jobs and trade agreements as administration accomplishments. These were claims made by the spokesman; the supplied material does not provide supporting data for each of them.
The report arrived as Republicans and Democrats competed for control of Congress in the midterms. Republicans held majorities in both the House and Senate at the time of the source report, while Democrats were seeking to gain control. The supplied information gives the September and year-over-year CPI figures but does not include detailed price changes across other categories or an independent assessment of the political claims.
