Gas prices have risen by more than $1.50 per gallon since President Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran almost 10 weeks ago, and throughout that time, Republican lawmakers have offered a consistent response to the increased costs: It’s a sacrifice we have to make.
GOP lawmakers have preached patience with Trump’s war with Iran, insisting that an eventual victory that stops Iran from developing nuclear weapons will be worth it. But many of those same Republicans were sounding the alarm in 2022 when gas prices spiked under President Joe Biden after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“There are trade-offs,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., recently told MS NOW. “I think the American people understand it. They’ve been through conflicts in the Middle East before. They know these prices will come down once the conflict is over.”
That patience stands in stark contrast to Kennedy’s concern about the rise in gas prices during Biden’s presidency as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine in early 2022. Even before that war started, Kennedy was criticizing the Biden administration for high gas prices, repeatedly using some version of the line “I don’t like to brag about all the expensive places I’ve been, but earlier today I went to the gas station.”
He used the line at least three times, including in August 2021 (with the average price of gas, according to AAA, at $3.19) and during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2022 (average gas price $3.33).
On Friday, gas prices hit an average of $4.54 per gallon, according to AAA, a 47% increase from the national average of $2.98 shortly before the conflict began. And limited stocks indicate there’s little chance of a swift turnaround. U.S. gasoline stocks totaled 222.3 million barrels during the fourth week of April, the second-lowest total during April in the past decade.
But so far, Congress hasn’t taken any action. And aside from waiting for the war to end, there’s no plan to address gas prices in Congress, GOP lawmakers told MS NOW.
When asked what Congress could do about the steep gas prices, Kennedy’s answer was: “There’s nothing we can do.”
“The price of gas and natural gas and gasoline and diesel fuel and oil is a product of the conflict in Iran, you know that,” he told MS NOW.
When asked if that was something the U.S. couldn’t do anything about — and whether it limited his patience with the Iran war — Kennedy told MS NOW, “you need to try adulting real hard.”
And when pressed how he squares his patience now — for a conflict Trump initiated — with his impatience for gas prices under Biden, Kennedy said, “I don’t have to square anything with you,” patting this reporter on the back as he ended the interview and walked away.
But Kennedy’s tolerance for high gas prices may exceed the patience of voters.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted April 15-20 found that 77% of U.S. voters blame Trump for the rise in gas prices, including 55% of Republicans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted April 24-27 also found that only 22% of voters approved of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, with 69% disapproving.
For now, however, the Republican strategy to address those concerns can best be summed up with that one word: patience.
“Nobody likes to pay high gas prices. Certainly, I don’t,” Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., told MS NOW. “But it’s a small price to pay whenever you consider that he’s saving millions of lives in the future by making sure Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said the gas price spike “is something short term that I think we have to endure, that is well worth enduring.”
And Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said gas prices are causing “some short-term pain, but in the longer term, even the medium and longer term, energy prices are going to be lower and more stable.”
But again, these same GOP lawmakers were far more impatient with high gas prices under Biden — even when prices were far lower than they are now.
“It’s so saddening, because we work so hard in this country to achieve energy independence, and now Joe Biden comes in,” Carter said on Oct. 14, 2021, when the national average gas price was $3.29 per gallon, according to AAA.
Hoeven said on Nov. 18, 2021, that gas prices at $3.41 were “a tax on every single American, every single day.” Johnson lamented “record gas prices” on Sept. 5, 2022, when the average price was $3.82. And Kennedy said everyday people “can’t afford to pay 50% more to fill up their gas tanks” on Nov. 17, 2021, when the average price was $3.41.
In 2022 and 2024, high gas prices were also a frequent topic in Republican campaign ads — with the same lawmakers who lambasted Democrats in those years now preaching patience.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., blamed “extreme liberals” for raising the price of gas in an Oct. 20, 2022, campaign ad. The AAA national average gas price was $3.88 as of Oct. 17, 2022. But on April 20 of this year, when gas cost slightly more than $4 per gallon, Bost said his constituents are understanding.
“My constituents know where we’re at, even our farmers,” Bost told MS NOW. “So we’re ready to go, and we know that we’re going to straighten the problem out in a short period of time.”
Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., said filling up his gas tank was “scary” in a July 2023 ad, when the national average was $3.52 per gallon. In early April 2026, as the average exceeded $4 per gallon, he was deflecting questions about gas prices, pointing to Iran’s nuclear threats.
In an Oct. 8, 2024, campaign ad, when the latest average was $3.19, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said gas prices had “gone through the roof.” On March 7, 2026, when asked about gas prices at $3.41, Lawler told CNN, “Eliminating the threat from Iran is absolutely worth it.”
Despite the emphasis on a quick resolution, few Republicans have pushed the Trump administration for a plan to end the war. Friday was the 60th day after Trump notified Congress of the conflict — a key deadline under the War Powers Resolution, which limits the president’s ability to engage in conflicts without congressional authorization.
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But Day 60 came and went without significant pushback from Congress. A day earlier, Senate Democrats had sought to pass a war powers resolution limiting Trump’s authority. It failed 47-50, the sixth time Republicans have blocked an Iran war powers resolution.
That same day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers he didn’t believe the 60-day deadline was coming up, arguing the clock had stopped because of a ceasefire announced April 7 — despite a continued U.S. naval blockade that is legally considered an act of war.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has repeatedly offered war powers resolutions to restrict Trump’s military ambitions, said he doesn’t hold out hope that gas prices will press Republicans to oppose the war in Iran. In his mind, the price spike is simply a betrayal of Trump’s promises to focus on the cost of living.
“It was a completely foreseeable consequence of what Donald Trump did — completely foreseeable consequence,” Kaine told MS NOW. “And it’s the opposite of what he promised.”
Of course, a few Republican lawmakers have grown anxious as the war passes the two-month mark. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted in favor of the war powers motion last week, after previously opposing it five times. And Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has also supported the war powers resolutions throughout the conflict.
Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, will be a key figure in crafting an eventual funding bill to pay for the war. She said the 60-day deadline on Friday was clear-cut.
“That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” Collins said in a statement.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has also noted the significance of the 60-day deadline. He told reporters that Congress should consider voting on an authorization for use of military force, a measure that would put up guardrails around, but not necessarily end, the conflict.
For now, however, Republicans are extending the Trump administration grace on gas prices — at least for now.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told MS NOW that she can be patient with the Trump administration, but rising fuel prices are hurting the economy. She said her home state has had record levels of Meals on Wheels food distribution, indicating that more people are struggling to get by.
“I’m worried, and I admit that, but for now, I have patience,” Lummis said.
Still, other Republicans indicated that they would support Trump’s war on Iran — and the corresponding rise in gas prices — for as long as it takes.
“It’s not about how long it goes on; it’s about how it ends,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told MS NOW.
Graham praised the U.S. military’s efforts to destroy Iran’s armed forces, though he noted that the regime still poses a threat.
“Nothing’s changed. The people in charge of Iran, just as radical as ever,” Graham said. “So I think President Trump is in a good spot. My advice to him would be, continue the blockade — but ‘blockade plus,’ which means try to open up a lane in the Strait of Hormuz to take Iran’s leverage away.”
Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., similarly said that while he hopes for a quick victory, the more important thing is for the U.S. to secure clear concessions against Iran’s uranium enrichment.
“The American people are suffering from gas prices — high — or diesel prices — really high — or whatever the case may be. And we’re asking them, stay with us,” Justice told MS NOW. “But if tomorrow we awaken to the fact that Iran is still enriching and all that kind of stuff, then they’re going to feel like, ‘well, what’d you do this for?’”
JM Rieger contributed to this report.
Jack Fitzpatrick covers Congress for MS NOW. He previously reported for Bloomberg Government, Morning Consult and National Journal. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.