Don't Mess with My Home Appliances Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, we all know that American families are struggling to make ends meet. President Trump promised to cut energy bills in half in his first year, but that has not happened. In fact, electricity prices are up by 13 percent across the Nation and 80 million Americans are struggling to pay their utility bills.

These increases did not just happen. They were a direct result of the Trump administration's disastrous policies, policies that have been rubber-stamped by House Republicans.

It is bad enough that Trump and congressional Republicans have ignored the affordability crisis and have instead done everything they can to help out their rich and big corporate interest buddies, but House Republicans are bringing up a bill today that will actually increase your monthly energy bill and make the appliances in your home more expensive to operate. It is hard to imagine being more out of touch with the needs of everyday Americans.

First, I have to mention that H.R. 4626 would make the appliances in your home more expensive to operate, sending your already high electricity bill even higher. Like all other appliance-related debates, this bill is just another way to kill floor time for Republicans who seem to only be able to garner enough Republican votes for bills to help their corporate polluter friends.

This bill guts the appliance energy conservation standards program at the Department of Energy. This program is credited with helping American households save $6,000 on their energy bills over the last decade. The standards are projected to help reduce peak demand by 32 gigawatts by 2040. In a world where data centers are popping up all over the country, driving up costs and demand, we can't ignore the benefits from appliance efficiency.

Instead of recognizing energy efficiency as a helpful tool against rising costs and increasing electricity demand, House Republicans have made it the enemy. This bill gives the Trump administration the power to eliminate efficiency standards, and it even prevents States from setting their own standards when the Federal Government fails to act. It creates arbitrary thresholds for new efficiency standards and eliminates the system of periodic reviews to examine if more savings are possible for certain products.

Together, these changes to the program will ensure that new energy efficiency standards get caught in a confusing and arbitrary process that delays finalization of new efficiency standards and allows for the roll back of existing standards. Basically, this bill guts the program and makes it unworkable.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Energy already has a robust process for finalizing energy efficiency standards. New standards must be technologically feasible and economically justified. The current process already has the buy-in and participation from a wide range of stakeholders, including consumer advocates, manufacturers, and energy efficiency advocates.

In fact, many of the efficiency standards that were finalized over the last few years are the result of a consensus agreement between these parties.

Rather than recognizing that the current process is successful at bringing everyone to the table, House Republicans have chosen to villainize it. Rather than celebrating the savings that Americans see as a result of efficiency standards, House Republicans mislead the public by misrepresenting how these standards work and how consumers save money.

With this bill, House Republicans are making the affordability crisis worse. They are gutting a successful and established program that saves Americans money.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PALLONE. Castor), the ranking member of our Energy Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I will say, first of all, that energy conservation standards are not bans. We have to keep repeating this over and over because Republicans are adamant about misleading the public.

Energy conservation standards improve the efficiency of new appliances. They do not mandate the removal of existing appliances, and they do not mandate the removal of an appliance based on its fuel source. It is also important to note that, by law, the Department of Energy is prohibited from setting standards that would eliminate a product based on fuel type, such as gas appliances.

Mr. Speaker, I rise again in strong opposition to this bill.

Tonight, President Trump will be in this very Chamber to deliver his State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. We will continue to hear a series of mistruths, empty promises, and gaslighting, I would say, to the American public, so just let me provide a dose of reality here on the issue at hand.

Electricity prices are up 12 percent across the Nation, a far cry from President Trump's promise of cutting electricity costs in half in his first year. Residential natural gas prices are up 20 percent since the President's inauguration. When families struggle to pay their utility bills, they often fall into debt.

Since December 2023, household utility debt has risen over 30 percent, climbing to a whopping $23 billion. Families are having to choose between keeping the lights on or paying for food or medicine. That is because President Trump and congressional Republicans have been more focused on lining the pockets of their corporate polluter friends instead of providing relief to the American people.

The affordability crisis is real. It is quite literally hitting homes as well, as the cost of buying a home feels out of reach for far too many and rent is increasingly unaffordable. Families are struggling to afford childcare and groceries. As the American public knows all too well, President Trump and Republicans have caused their healthcare costs to rise too.

Let's also not forget about the President's disastrous tariffs, which cost the average American household nearly $1,200 in 2025. Apparently, the affordability crisis isn't real. The President says it is not happening, or sometimes he says he fixed it. However, the American people know when they are not being told the truth.

As much as I wish it did, it doesn't stop there. With the help of his Republican colleagues, President Trump has eliminated more than 172,000 clean-energy jobs, shuttering factories and projects across the country, and canceled enough renewable energy. As we know, renewable energy is cheap. It is clean. It helps American families.

People would think that Republicans would be prioritizing legislation to address affordability, but that is not the case. Look at what is happening here today. Right now, this bill that we have before us is a retread from last Congress. It is the same bill that we voted on in the last Congress. It says it is about affordability, but it is only in name. In actuality, this bill will raise household utility bills.

In case my Republican colleagues haven't been listening, the American people can't afford any more price hikes. The American people have been crystal clear. They are in need of help. I hear from my constituents all the time about the rising cost of living, and it is time that Republicans stand up to President Trump and actually do something about it. I don't see it happening, but I hope we will see it.

I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

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