US House Dems at Las Vegas shadow hearing link Trump ‘corruption’ to affordability crisis

Nevada’s Democratic House members heard testimony from expert witnesses on Friday who tied President Donald Trump’s policies and “self-enrichment” to the rising costs of gas prices, groceries, housing costs, and energy bills. 

Nevada Reps. Susie Lee, Dina Titus, and Steven Horsford were featured in a congressional shadow hearing in Las Vegas focused on affordability and the cost of living. 

The hearing was held byDemocratic members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Oversight Committee, including California Rep. Robert Garcia – the ranking Democrat on the committee.

Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), laid out a laundry list of actions by Trump and his administration he said demonstrated “corruption” and “self-enrichment,” adding that those actions have exacerbated the affordability and cost of living crisis hitting American households. 

Since winning the 2024 election, Trump has created 59 companies, and he reported at least $233 million in revenue from them in 2025, according to a CREW analysis. 

“While folks in Nevada and across the country struggle with the cost of basics like gas, groceries, and health care, 2025 was the most lucrative year of Trump’s life,” Sherman said. 

Those decisions have come at the cost of Nevada’s economy, said Sherman. He pointed to Trump’s decision to host the 2026 G20 Summit at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, which directly benefited the president’s private business.

“He’s holding the G20 summit in Miami so that his business can benefit when cities like Las Vegas could also use the economic boost,” Sherman said.

In March, Huffpost reported that Trump’s golf trips have cost taxpayers over $100 million in security and travel costs—much of which has gone to his own resorts. Propublica also reported that a company linked to Donald Trump Jr. received a $620 million loan from the Department of Defense. 

“There’s the direct profiteering by Trump, his family, and his cronies off of your hard-earned money,” Sherman said. 

During the hearing, Titus also criticized Trump for using his public office to directly profit from selling early access to his social media posts on Truth Social, which has raised concerns about insider trading. 

“Now you’ve got the president not only buying up companies, creating companies, investing in companies, getting grants for friends’ companies, but he’s going to sell his tweets or whatever they are now,” Titus said. 

“This is really direct corruption in the American presidency. You have the president’s family potentially making — could be billions, could be hundreds of millions, by some estimates — in contracts, in loans, in crypto schemes, while the American public and their cost in gas and groceries and food continues to go up,” Garcia said.

Liz Pancotti with the left-leaning policy group Groundwork Collaborative said the affordability crisis is a result of several cost of living expenses increasing simultaneously. 

Since the start of Trump’s second term, household electric bills are up 16% nationally, said Pancotti. Fuel costs are also on the rise as a direct result of Trump’s war in Iran. Nationally, gas prices reached an average peak of more than $4.50 a gallon in May, about 50% higher than they were in February, and the national price remains close to $4 a gallon.

The average price of a gallon of regular is $4.82 in Nevada, a dollar more than it was a year ago, according to the AAA fuel price tracker.

In Nevada, the number of SNAP participants has declined by more than 20% since last summer, following the implementation of new work requirements set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Juanny Remoero, CEO of Las Vegas-based Mothership Coffee, described razor-thin margins at her business as a result of tariffs and rising fuel costs. The Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were unlawful and must be refunded to firms that paid the taxes on imports, but was appealed by the Trump administration.

“Unfortunately, there’s only been one importer that actually provided refunds on the tariffs,” Remoero said. “I can’t control tariffs. I can’t control gas prices. I can’t control wars, and it impacts my business.”

Ted Pappageorge,secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, cited statistics to the committee indicating how Trump administration policies have damaged Nevada’s largest industry, tourism. 

Last year, Las Vegas saw the largest ever single year non-COVID drop in visitor volume, going back to 1970. Visitation to the city dropped by over 7% in 2025, with over 3 million fewer visitors compared to 2024, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Total passenger count at Harry Reid International Airport has been declining for 18 straight months, and the year-to-year date count through July is down nearly 7% percent compared to last year.

Pappageorge added that he believes the slowdown has been aggravated by Trump’s hostility towards allies, especially Canada, long the Las Vegas tourism market’s  largest source of international visitors. 

“It’s no surprise when you make it clear that folks are not welcome in this country that they choose to go somewhere else,” Pappagageorge said. “In Las Vegas, fewer visitors to Las Vegas means fewer customers in the casinos and hotels, fewer covers, fewer tips in the restaurants, and all that means fewer hours and shifts and layoffs for our members.”