With the U.S. war with Iran well into its third month and gas prices up roughly 50% conflict started, President Donald Trump is now pitching temporarily suspending the federal gas tax.
Unfortunately for Trump — and the president could be forgiven for not remembering this, given Congress’ reluctance to assert itself on anything — lawmakers actually get a say on the gas tax. And so far, even top Republicans on Capitol Hill are not exactly offering full-throated endorsements.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Tuesday summed up some of the skepticism when he rhetorically asked, “If you lifted that, does that ultimately get passed on to the consumer?”
“Or,” he asked, “does it get sucked up in the supply chain somewhere?”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. — when pressed Tuesday whether he would put a gas tax suspension on the House floor for a vote — said, “We’re processing that. It’s an intriguing idea.”
“You have to look at any unintended consequences and evaluate all that,” Johnson said. “So I’m not getting ready to reject it, but I certainly find it to be an intriguing idea.”
The current federal tax amounts to about 18 cents per gallon of gas — and 24 cents for a gallon of diesel — a far cry from the average spike at the pump of $1.50 per gallon since the first U.S. strikes on Feb. 28.
Any savings passed along to corporations or consumers by suspending the tax only stands to shortchange the Highway Trust Fund, which helps finance transit-related capital projects across the country. That fund gets most of its revenue from the taxes on gas and diesel fuel.
Opinions on a possible gas tax holiday cut across party lines on Capitol Hill.
In March, shortly after the war began, and just as gas prices began to rise, Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut proposed suspending the tax through Oct. 1 — a clear dig at Trump over consumer prices, traditionally a bright spot for the president when it comes to public sentiment.
Kelly cheered the president getting onboard with the idea. “People are having a hard time driving to work, because they can’t afford gas. Give the American people a break,” he said.
And Blumenthal said, “The president’s a little bit late to the party, but better late than never.”
Many Democrats are aware that a gas tax holiday won’t do much to actually lower prices, but they’re also aware of the optics. Opposing a gas tax holiday would give Republicans some ammunition to blame Democrats for the high prices — and instead of falling for that political trap, Democrats seem to be taking credit for the idea.
Across the aisle, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced his own bill on Monday to suspend both the federal tax on both gas and diesel fuel for 90 days. The bill would empower the president to then suspend it for an additional 90 days.
But Republicans are also aware this proposal won’t actually do much to lower gas prices that have skyrocketed since the Iran war began.
Asked to square the roughly $1.50 increase since the war began with the roughly 20 cents in savings per gallon under his bill, Hawley told MS NOW, “Every bit helps.”
“I don’t think it’s an excuse for Congress to say, well, ‘We’re not going to do anything,’” Hawley said.
Some rank-and-file Republicans expressed openness to suspending the tax — but not without offering a dose of skepticism. Some even noted it’ll be little more than a Band-Aid if the war drags on.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters, “I’ll cut every tax you can,” before adding, “But I’d like to balance the budget, too.”
And Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he and other Republicans would likely back suspending the tax. But, he added, “getting control of the Strait of Hormuz” will make the “real difference.”
Others, like Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., raised concerns about the impact on the Highway Trust Fund. “All we’re doing is taking money out of savings to offset some of the prices,” said Tillis, who is not seeking reelection.
If GOP leadership — facing both White House and political pressure — ultimately does decide to move forward with the president’s proposal, it could put any Democratic holdouts in a political bind rhetorically: objecting to something that could save consumers some money, just months before an election and as inflation hits a rate not seen since 2023.
Democrats, after all, have made affordability the centerpiece of their midterm campaign message.
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While several Democrats did not explicitly rule out supporting the president’s proposal, they argued there’s a better way to go about lowering costs: end the Iran war.
“He started a stupid war that’s costing us $1.50 a gallon,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told MS NOW. “And his proposed relief is: ‘Well, maybe I’ll give you 18 cents a gallon off.’ That doesn’t sound like a deal that I would accept.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Monday that Republicans could “help a lot on the cost of gas, if they would just vote to use the War Powers Act to rein Donald Trump in.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., told MS NOW, that her constituents are “paying the price” of the president’s actions overseas. “Do I want to see them get relief? Yes,” she said. “But the most direct way to do that would be to end the war.”
And Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., argued that voters get it.
“They understand what’s driving the prices up, and that’s the damn war,” he said. “They want it over with.”
On the campaign trail, though, some Democrats in competitive races are publicly embracing the idea.
In New Hampshire, Rep. Chris Pappas — who is making a bid for Senate — introduced companion legislation to the Kelly-Blumenthal bill to temporarily suspend the tax.
In an interview Tuesday, Pappas said he’s waiting to see how “serious” the president is about supporting a gas tax holiday.
“If he can bring this reckless war of choice to an end in the next few days, it’s still going to mean months of record high gas prices, especially over the summer travel season that impacts the tourism industry in my state,” Pappas told MS NOW.
And last month, James Talarico — who is looking to flip Texas in the Senate race — pitched a federal gas tax pause until fuel prices fall to where they were before the Iran war began.
“I applaud President Trump’s support for a federal gas tax suspension,” Talarico said in a statement Monday. “Lowering prices at the pump should be a bipartisan commitment.”
Notably, one of Talarico’s potential opponents — Republican Sen. John Cornyn — previously argued that suspending the tax was “short-sighted” and would “explode the deficit and debt.”
By Monday, though, Cornyn was expressing openness to the president’s proposal.
“There’s a difference between a temporary suspension because of current circumstances and a permanent suspension,” Cornyn said.
Jack Fitzpatrick and Mychael Schnell contributed to this report.
Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.