Urge President Trump to Halt Tariffs and Address Economic Decline

I am writing to urge you to press President Trump to immediately halt his tariff policies and take concrete action to stabilize our economy. Consumer confidence has plummeted to 89.1 in December 2025, down from 92.9 in November, approaching the crisis level of 85.7 seen in April when these sweeping tariffs were first implemented. The Conference Board's data makes clear that Americans are deeply anxious about high prices, inflation, and the direct impact of these tariffs on their daily lives. The employment situation is particularly alarming. Our economy gained only 64,000 jobs in November and actually lost 105,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate has climbed to 4.6 percent, the highest since 2021. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has indicated he expects these already troubling numbers to be revised even lower. Job creation has averaged a mere 35,000 per month since March, compared to 71,000 in the prior year. This represents a 51 percent decline in job growth. The measure of Americans' short-term expectations for income, business conditions, and the job market has remained below 80 for eleven consecutive months. Economists recognize this threshold as a potential recession signal. Meanwhile, consumers' assessments of current economic conditions dropped 9.5 points to 116.8 in December alone. Fewer Americans believe jobs are plentiful, with that figure falling from 28.2 percent to 26.7 percent, while more report jobs are hard to get. Businesses are frozen in a state economists describe as "low hire, low fire" due to uncertainty over tariff policy and elevated interest rates. This paralysis is harming working families in your district who need stable employment and affordable goods. I ask that you publicly call on President Trump to reverse course on tariffs and work with Congress on policies that actually create jobs and lower costs for constituents. Our economy cannot afford continued decline.