Federal gas tax raises $23 billion annually for highways, transit
Suspending the federal gasoline tax would require an act of Congress — a hurdle Trump acknowledged Tuesday when he told reporters his administration was “thinking about” the move.
“We’re thinking about that,” Trump said when asked by a reporter whether the tax should be suspended.
The federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel and raises more than $23 billion a year for highways and public transit. Dropping the gasoline portion would trim about 4% from the price of a gallon of regular fuel — a fraction of the more than $1 per gallon increase Americans have seen at the station over the past year.
The national average for regular gasoline stood at $4.3685 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA, more than a dollar above the level of a year earlier.
Trump first raised the possibility of a suspension in May, as the Iran war pushed fuel prices sharply higher. Asked about the midterm elections on Tuesday, Trump said he expected Republicans to “do very well” and credited his rallies for shifting voter sentiment in his party’s direction.
“Prices are now coming way down,” he said. “And oil, as soon as the war is over, which will be soon, will be coming way down.”
He did not give a date for the war’s end and did not explain how a tax suspension would pass through Congress.