A debate over whether a burrito should cost $20 has ignited a Republican civil war over affordability and the party’s appeal to younger voters ahead of the midterm elections.

The clash began Wednesday when Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared a college student’s complaint that basic purchases have become prohibitively expensive.

«​​One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability: ‘A burrito shouldn’t cost $20,’» he posted to X on Wednesday. «Yeah, a lot of this is a hangover from Covid and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much.»

Fiscal conservatives took the position that food is generally affordable if one cooks for themselves and that purchasing a $20 burrito should be considered an occasional luxury. Those aligned with the populist wing of the GOP, meanwhile, argued that traditional conservatives are out of touch with the youth and that the Republican Party faces electoral peril unless it can meaningfully address affordability concerns.

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«Just hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I’d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed,» Rep. Dan Crenshaw wrote on Wednesday night. «Stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with 4 roommates. The market doesn’t care what you think something ‘should’ cost.»

RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway, however, said that such an approach to affordability concerns could prove toxic to the GOP.

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A Chipotle logo is displayed outside their restaurant on Feb. 24, 2025, in San Diego, California. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

«Andrew [Kolvet] is absolutely right about this, and pundits deflecting because you can cook at home cheaper are not helping,» he said. «Eating a burrito once in a while should not be an aspirational lifestyle, for crying out loud.»

«The comments saying stick to the dining hall or buy microwaveable burritos are missing the ENTIRE point,» Defense of Freedom Institute spokeswoman Angela Morabito said. «If the Right’s ‘solution’ to the affordability crisis is telling people to eat worse food, we will lose, and we will deserve it.»

Chipotle burritos generally run between about $9 and $12 depending on location, with cheaper restaurants, such as Taco Bell, offering more affordable options. Some fiscal conservatives also pointed out that young people can save money by preparing meals at home.

«A burrito only costs $20 when you buy it on Door Dash because you’re too lazy to walk over to Chipotle or Taco Bell (where you can get one for $3.99),» Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen wrote in response to a populist arguing that the GOP could surrender ground to socialists by not addressing affordability. «When I graduated I lived on ramen noodles, had two roommates, and worked two jobs. I didn’t whine about affordability, I worked hard so I could one day afford a better life.»

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Vice President JD Vance attends a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland on July 31, 2026. (Aaron Schwartz/AFP via Getty Images)

Vice President JD Vance then added to the debate, responding to Thiessen.

«I’m surprised to hear Mark say this. If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito,» the vice president wrote.

Bradley Devlin, politics editor at the Daily Signal, claimed that some involved in the burrito discourse were ignorant of financial sacrifices he says are quite common among young people.

«The Burrito Discourse has exposed that so people with thoughts on the youths have not spoken to one in years,» he wrote. «They do not expect to live off delivered food from bespoke restaurants and live on their own. I don’t know a single 20 something who lives on their own right now. Having a college degree and two jobs is around the highest it’s ever been. ‘The college premium’ has dried up.»

Others responded to the debate in jest.

«I don’t care for burritos,» Daily Wire host Michael Knowles posted.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain in Ceuta after hordes of mostly military-aged men rushed into the Spanish enclave from Morocco late last month, Ceuta’s president said Thursday.

While speaking from a video call during an extraordinary session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas also revealed around 100 people died during the surge.

Authorities estimate roughly 80,000 migrants rushed into the territory within a 48-hour period in late July.

Vivas called the border crisis an «invasion» and «one of the most difficult moments in the recent history of our city.»

«According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, an ‘invasion’ should be understood in its second definition as the abnormal or irregular occupation of a specific place,» Vivas said, according to a Fox News Digital translation of his remarks, which he gave in Spanish.

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«That is precisely what occurred on July 30 and 31, when approximately 80,000 people — equivalent to the entire population of Ceuta — stormed into our city. This characterization, moreover, aligns with the statement made by the President of the Government of Spain, who on Friday the 31st, during his visit to Ceuta, stated that we were facing an attack, a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity,» Vivas continued.

Echoing previous claims from Spain’s leftist President Pedro Sánchez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Vivas acknowledged roughly 75,000 of the migrants had returned to Morocco but added «under no circumstances does it allow us to claim that our city has returned to normal.»

«Ceuta has not returned to normal because between 3,000 and 5,000 people who entered during those fateful days of July 30 and 31 still remain,» Vivas said. «The reception centers for adult and minor migrants are in a state of collapse, turning the influx into a major humanitarian emergency.»

«Added to this are disruptions to public order and a high risk to public safety,» he continued. «Furthermore, the morale of Ceuta’s residents is severely affected. Our population feels sad, helpless, uneasy, fearful, and worried — and with good reason. It is inevitable to wonder whether this will happen again, and if that next time will be the definitive plunge into the abyss, causing us to cease being what we are: Spain and Europe. It has been exposed to the world that we are extraordinarily vulnerable, and that our security and integrity are in the hands of a third country, Morocco, which does not recognize our sovereignty.»

Migrants wait outside Ceuta’s temporary migrant center (CETI), which is currently at full capacity, following mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain, Aug. 3, 2026. (Pedro Nunes/Reuters)

He then proposed a set of actions authorities should take to return the city to normal. The proposals included expelling the remaining Moroccan migrants, provisioning more resources for the city’s migrant facilities, and the implementation of a new economic model which he called on to be «More Spain and More Europe.»

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«We serve a society that has forged its character through courage to endure and the ability to overcome adversity. We are confident it will do so again, though I emphasize that the requested support from European authorities remains indispensable. Thank you very much,» Vivas concluded.

Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas seen during a meeting at the Consolat de Mar on Aug. 6, 2026, in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. The meeting takes place just one week after the unprecedented migration crisis at the border between Ceuta and Morocco. (Javier Fernandez/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Following the border rush between July 30-31, Sánchez called the incident «an attack, a violation of the territorial integrity of Spain.»

Fox News Digital contacted the governments of Spain and Ceuta for additional comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The Republican-led House Committee on Education and Workforce is demanding financial records from five of the nation’s largest labor unions over allegations that union leaders used funds to support Democratic candidates and progressive causes while spending millions on lavish perks.

In letters obtained by Fox News Digital and sent Thursday, the lawmakers on the committee requested financial records dating back to January 2023 from the United Auto Workers (UAW), United Steelworkers (USW), SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD), Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED).

«Unions are supposed to be representing workers for their best interests on the job site, for their future goals that they have, and to work together in a commonality that speaks for, I think, in general, all of the workers combined and not just select portions of it,» Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who also serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, told Fox News Digital.

«When we see funds that have been used by multiple unions for highly political purposes, and you begin to see that the rank and file aren’t following along with the same political funding purposes of union leadership, common sense says you ought to take a look at it.»

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Multiple reports cited in the letters, including previous Fox News Digital reporting on BMWED’s political spending, allege union leaders spent millions supporting Democratic candidates and progressive causes while also spending heavily on conferences, travel, entertainment and other expenses.

The UAW had the highest reported totals, with nearly $95 million in political spending and nearly $146 million spent on travel and entertainment.

The requests also seek records on lobbying, executive pay, travel, entertainment and conference expenses, along with member complaints, ethics and audit policies, transfers to larger labor organizations, and the use of union funds to cover expenses for spouses, family members, guests or political allies.

The lawmakers argue there is a growing disconnect between union leadership and members, saying many rank-and-file workers have «increasingly supported President Trump and other Republican candidates in recent election cycles.»

«I think it comes down to the leader’s own self-interest,» Walberg said. «That could be political interest, or that could be self-aggrandizement, or in certain cases looks like for monetary purposes, for their own personal benefit.»

In the letters, the lawmakers said that workers «deserve transparency regarding how their dues are spent, the extent to which union leadership consults members before endorsing candidates or engaging in political activities, and whether differing viewpoints within the union are being respected.»

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Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan speaks during a House Workforce and Education Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025. (OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Walberg said the committee is examining how some unions spend dues collected under «mandatory membership policies.»

«We have responsibility in our committee for oversight on what goes on in the workplace, what goes in those that represent workers in the work place on both sides of the equation, whether it’s the employer or the union,» he said.

But Walberg said union leaders still face questions about serving workers’ best interests.

«There have been union leaders who have gone to jail and certainly been prosecuted over misuse of funds,» he said. «There seems to be indication that that still is going on in certain major unions.»

Insisting «this is not to be a partisan political motivated effort,» Walberg said the committee’s role is oversight and that evidence uncovered during the investigation could still be referred to the Justice Department.

«We do not have prosecutorial powers,» he said. «We can’t put anybody in jail. We can call for information, and ultimately call for union leadership to come before our committee and answer questions.»

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Supporters hold up signs during a campaign event for U.S. President Donald Trump at Xtreme Manufacturing on Sept. 13, 2020, in Henderson, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The unions were asked to respond by Aug. 17, with the UAW receiving a separate Aug. 18 deadline.

«The committee will continue examining whether current labor law adequately protects workers from political coercion and whether additional transparency requirements are warranted,» according to the letters.

The letters added that the unions’ responses will assist «in determining whether any legislative changes are warranted,» arguing unions have a legal duty to fairly represent members and that workers «should not be compelled to subsidize political advocacy fundamentally at odds with their beliefs or interests.»

Walberg said the investigation is «for a purpose,» one he hopes will hold union leaders accountable.

«I hope that will be very apparent and transparent that we are concerned about the rank-and-file union member who in most cases had no choice about their contributions but should have a clear understanding and the ability to react to that understanding about how their funds are being used for political, cultural, you name it, purposes and have their union leadership brought to light,» he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the UAW, USW, SMART-TD, BLET and BMWED for comment. BMWED declined to comment, while the other unions did not respond by publication.