Conservative group offers Republicans an affordability agenda

What the blueprint proposes

Advancing American Freedom is rolling out an affordability plan with more than 100 recommendations for housing, energy, food and health care. The conservative organization, founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, intends the plan to serve as a resource for Republican lawmakers and congressional staff before the November 2026 midterm elections.

The report, titled “Affordability 101,” argues that the federal government should emphasize greater supply, more competition and domestic production instead of new subsidies. Its proposals target regulations, tariffs and subsidies that the group says contribute to higher household costs.

On housing, the group says government regulations account for 26.4% of the cost of a new single-family home. It recommends changes to permitting, zoning and land-use rules intended to reduce construction costs and make it easier to build homes.

The plan also calls for expanded domestic energy production. For artificial intelligence and data centers, it favors easing regulations as part of its approach to energy and economic costs.

Differences within the Republican policy debate

Many recommendations overlap with Trump administration priorities, including domestic energy production, home construction, regulatory reductions and innovation. The group’s blueprint also differs from the administration on some policies.

One dispute concerns Vice President JD Vance’s proposal to expand eligibility for the Child Care and Development Fund. That proposal could provide some married families with a stay-at-home parent up to about per child each year.

Advancing American Freedom opposes that approach. Richard Stern, a vice president at the organization’s Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise, argued that the benefit could create an incentive for married parents to divorce.

The blueprint is an outside group’s policy agenda rather than legislation. Republican lawmakers would still have to decide which proposals, if any, to introduce or include in their campaigns.