Black Friday and the Affordability Crisis

Today is Black Friday, a uniquely American holiday where the promise of deep discounts drives people out in droves to shop until they drop.

But today, the stores may seem emptier than usual.

And for good reason — Americans across the country are paying more for nearly everything, leaving little to no room in household budgets for toys, a new pair of shoes, or the latest, greatest tech gadget.

1 in three Americans say their personal financial situations have gotten worse in the past year, and almost half of all Americans say it’s harder to pay for groceries now than a year ago.

We’re in an affordability crisis impacting all but the very richest Americans.

And where is the President of the United States in the midst of this affordability crisis? Building a gold-plated ballroom and driving prices UP.

President Trump has tried his hardest to make tariffs his signature policy of his second term, haphazardly instituting tariffs on America’s trading partners, and collecting billions of dollars in tariff revenue while ignoring their impact on family budgets.

In fact, tariffs are projected to cost the average American an extra $132 this holiday season alone.

And for many of America’s small businesses, the chaos and cost of tariffs are driving them closer to closing their doors.

These tariffs aren’t just horrible policy, they’re illegal. My office sued President Trump over these illegal emergency tariffs, and earlier this month, I was proud to join my fellow Attorneys General at the U.S. Supreme Court as it heard oral argument in a group of cases challenging them in court.

I’m optimistic that the Supreme Court will knock down these unlawful tariffs and restore order to our economy.

However, President Trump isn’t just satisfied by driving costs up, he’s also actively working to make life even more unaffordable for the lowest income Americans. This week alone, my office has had to sue President Trump twice for actions targeting those who are already struggling.

First, we took President Trump to court for attempting to illegally restrict funding for a critical federal program that helps communities combat homelessness and provide affordable, safe, and stable housing to our most vulnerable residents. These unlawful restrictions would force tens of thousands of formerly homeless individuals and their families back onto the street.

Then, just a day later, we took President Trump to court once again, this time challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent guidance illegally restricting eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — one of the most essential anti-hunger programs in the United States. This uninformed, sloppy guidance misstates who’s eligible for SNAP and threatens to deprive thousands of lawful permanent residents of the food benefits that Congress guaranteed to them.

No President has ever worked harder to deprive hungry Americans of access to basic nutrition; but our coalition of Attorneys General isn’t giving up the fight. We’re asking a court to step in and stop the USDA before any further damage can be done.

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The lengths to which the Trump Administration is willing to go to make life less affordable for American families is staggering. In addition to driving up costs with tariffs and targeting low-income Americans, they’re attempting to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, weaponizing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, pulling funding from critical programs that support countless families, and so much more.

And while President Trump and his billionaire friends may pretend otherwise, we know that these policies don’t just hurt individuals, they’re detrimental to our economy. For every person forced to cut their budget yet again due to tariffs, every SNAP beneficiary unable to go grocery shopping, every teacher making a student loan payment instead of visiting a local business or buying a house, our economy suffers.

So, whether you’re heading out to shop this Black Friday, or staying in and going over your budget yet again, you deserve better.

At the California Department of Justice, we are focused on our people and our economy. We’re taking actions to bring down prices, while the President continues to drive them up — suing landlords for colluding to raise rents, taking on monopolies, and holding bad actors that defraud Californians accountable. We will always take action when someone is seeking to take advantage of Californians — whether that be a greedy corporation or the President of the United States.