House Democrats are defending Vice President Harris’s proposed ban on price gouging, even as some say that it won’t be able to pass Congress.

One of the economic policies proposed by Ms. Harris is a ban on price gouging on grocery items, a measure aimed at bringing down the cost of food and one that has been seized on by her Republican opponents as “communist price controls.”

The proposal mirrors Senator Warren’s price gouging regulation, which she introduced last year. However, according to Politico, some congressional Democrats believe that the measure would not pass Congress.

“It’s clear to me these are very general, very lofty goals,” one Democratic lawmaker told Politico.

Although 37 states have their own price gouging regulations, Democrats on the hill say that they’re not sure how exactly a price gouging ban would be implemented. 

The plan aims to give the Federal Trade Commission a mandate to prosecute companies that engage in “excessive” price gouging, with the commission being given some leeway in defining the parameters of what counts as excessive price gouging. 

The second part of Ms. Harris’s plan to bring down prices has also met some skepticism in Congress. Her proposal to empower the FTC and other agencies to carry out antitrust enforcement would also require congressional action, which would probably be an uphill battle.

At the Democratic National Convention, a top economic advisor to Ms. Harris, Brian Nelson, told reporters that the plan is aimed at bringing federal law into line with state level consumer protections.

“She’s going to work with Congress to ensure that it is directed at bad actors, bad activity,” Mr. Nelson said. “It’s not meant to set prices or price levels or anything like that. And that is not the way current state laws around price gouging are.”

As of yet, Ms. Harris’s campaign has not given an example of a company engaged in price gouging.