A Republican-led government shutdown would have serious impacts on the U.S. economy. It would reduce economic output and harm consumer confidence as many important government functions would shut down due to lack of funds. Americans would face disruptions to important benefits, many private businesses would have to alter their operations, and federal workers across the country would be furloughed and go unpaid. Congress must act to prevent this avoidable harm to the U.S. economy.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the law is already lowering costs for families, growing the middle class, jumpstarting clean energy development, and creating a fairer tax system. The Inflation Reduction Act’s impacts will only grow in future years as more investments flow through the economy and additional climate and health care provisions take effect to help American families.

Below are a series of resources that highlight the impacts of the law at the national and state level one year later, and a separate piece describing the recent progress made on inflation.

Ensuring Americans’ access to quality higher education is a critical piece of the U.S. economy’s success. A higher education is one important pathway to the middle class and making it available to more Americans leads to a strong, diverse, and globally competitive workforce. Yet, student loan debt can act as a barrier to entry into the middle class, denying many borrowers the ability to build wealth, save for retirement, and support a family.
Recognizing these challenges, the Biden-Harris administration has overhauled the income-driven repayment (IDR) system to give millions of middle-class borrowers the relief they need to pay back their loans in a sustainable way. The administration’s actions will give full credit for the payments borrowers have already made, while also introducing the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan to reduce IDR payments going forward.