President Donald Trump floated suspending or reducing the federal gas tax to blunt higher fuel prices, but any pause would need congressional approval. [1, 2, 3]
Trump said in Oval Office remarks on May 12 that he would "reduce" the tax and told CBS News he wanted to pause it "for a period of time." He also said, "we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time." [1, 3]
Republican lawmakers quickly moved to turn the idea into legislation. Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill on May 12 to suspend the federal gas tax for at least 90 days, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said she planned to bring a House bill that week. [1]
The federal tax is 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel. It mainly funds the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for highway construction, maintenance, public transit and other infrastructure projects. [1, 2, 3]
Critics said a gas tax holiday would offer only modest relief for drivers and could drain that fund. Brian Turmail, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association's vice president for public affairs, said, "A gas tax holiday is a good way to blow a hole in the collection of revenue for funding highway and transit repairs, but it's a bad way to help drivers who are affected by higher gas prices." [2]
Trucking and construction groups also opposed the proposal. The American Trucking Associations, Truckload Carriers Association and National Tank Truck Carriers warned that without replacement funds, fuel tax revenue supporting highway safety and infrastructure projects would "evaporate." [2]
The reports linked higher fuel prices to the Iran war that began on Feb. 28. CNBC said gas was $4.50 a gallon on Tuesday and diesel was $5.64, while Vox cited an average gas price of $4.52 a gallon. [2, 3]
Trump's comments came on the same day he rejected an Iranian response to the latest U.S. peace proposal as "TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE." [3]
