President Biden and his top advisers are caught in a loop: They know inflation wounds them politically and hurts their voters, but scrapping some inflationary policies would wound them politically — and hurt their voters.

Why it matters: The president remains committed to the core elements of his economic program, even as price hikes threaten to wipe out Democrats in November’s midterms.

His approach includes imposing strict “Buy American” requirements on all federal spending, and, so far, maintaining President Trump’s tariffs on China.

Both of those hardline policies put upward pressure on prices, leading to higher inflation.