President Trump's push to suspend the federal gas tax as fuel prices soar amid the Iran war is running into significant headwinds on Capitol Hill, where Republican leaders are weighing the political benefits against the fiscal and practical consequences.
The idea, which Trump floated Monday in a phone interview with CBS News, would temporarily eliminate the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal levy. While rank-and-file GOP lawmakers see it as a way to address voter anger over rising costs ahead of the midterms, top Republicans are treading carefully.
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida quickly introduced legislation to enact a 90-day suspension, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune was notably cool to the proposal. Thune argued that the best way to lower prices is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and he warned that the gas tax funds the Highway Trust Fund, which supports interstates and road maintenance.
“The best way to get gas prices to normalize in my view is to get the strait open,” Thune said. “We do have a Highway Trust Fund and it does perform an important service.”
Speaker Mike Johnson was more open but stopped short of endorsing the plan. “I’m not getting ready to reject it. I certainly find it to be an intriguing idea. It may help,” Johnson said, adding that members need to examine unintended consequences.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates a 10-month suspension would drain $20 billion from the Highway Trust Fund, nearly half its annual revenue, hastening insolvency. Hawley’s bill would backfill the loss with general fund transfers, but that raises its own fiscal questions.
Gas prices have hit a national average of $4.50 per gallon, a 30 percent jump from last year and a 30-cent increase in just one month. That spike helped push inflation to 3.8 percent in April, the highest in three years, according to Labor Department data.
Democrats, who previously floated similar ideas under Biden, are now skeptical. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed the 18-cent cut as inadequate. “If Trump wants to give real relief to Americans, end the damn war. That’s $1.50, it’s a lot more than 18 cents,” Schumer said.
The political irony is thick: several Republicans now backing Trump’s gas tax holiday, including Hawley and Senator Mike Lee, harshly criticized Biden’s 2022 proposal as unwise and fiscally irresponsible. Lee, who now wants to repeal the tax permanently, argued then that suspending it would harm highway maintenance and force more borrowing.
For more on how Trump’s foreign policy moves are shaping domestic politics, see our coverage of Trump’s Beijing visit agenda. And as the administration navigates enforcement challenges, read about Trump’s appointment of ICE veteran Dave Venturella as acting director.
Any suspension would need congressional approval, and until this week only Democrats had introduced such bills. Now, with Trump’s backing, the GOP is suddenly on board—but the road ahead looks bumpy.
