The Republican leader for the House Committee on Ways and Means slammed President Joe Biden and Democrats on Wednesday after news broke that inflation surged 7 percent year over year in December — the fastest rate since 1982.

“This crushing report shows Democrats’ spending has pushed Bidenflation to achieve the highest prices in 40 years, killing family budgets and wiping out three years of wage gains,” Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) said in a statement.

The Committee on Ways and Means is “the oldest committee of the United States Congress,” and is the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives. The committee, under Brady’s leadership, has been very vocal in its criticism the Biden administration’s handling of the economy and its Build Back Better agenda.

“As Chairman Powell said yesterday, inflation is a severe threat to getting workers off the sidelines and back into the workforce—yet the Biden Administration has ignored it, denied it, and is now passing the buck for their own incompetence,” Brady continued.

The Labor Department on Wednesday released updated numbers for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks what consumers pay for goods and services. The data also shows that December was the seventh straight month of inflation above 5 percent. In November, CPI was up 6.9 percent.

Recent polls reveal voters’ attitudes toward the Biden administration as inflation persists. In a Yahoo News/YouGov survey, 57 percent of voters said they “directly blame President Biden,” and view inflation as the “most important issue facing America.”

Another poll in mid-December found that voters believe Biden is making inflation worse, not better. By a 25-point margin, voters also said they think his Build Back Better spending plan would push inflation higher.

Several other Republican lawmakers took to Twitter following to weigh-in on the 40-year-high inflation report.

“Inflation is up 7%, and @POTUS is talking about a federal takeover of elections, and breaking a filibuster he defended for decades. This guy needs to get serious!,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) tweeted.

Shoppers visit the Dolphin Mall on December 21, 2021 in Miami, Florida. Shoppers are seeing higher prices on many goods as the annual inflation rate in the U.S. accelerated to 6.8% in November of 2021, the highest since June of 1982. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Inflation just hit 7%, the highest rate since 1982. But don’t worry, Biden’s hard at work calling Americans racist for wanting voter ID. #BringBackMeanTweets,” Rep. Andy Biggs  (R-AZ) joined in. 

Brady further wrote that “no one is buying Democrats’ excuses.”

“The American people are suffering as they watch this Administration refuse to lift a finger to help them out of this crisis,” he concluded.