Trump official opens door to gas tax suspension
· Axios
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday the Trump administration is "open" to suspending the federal gasoline tax amid high pump prices.
Why it matters: His remarks slightly soften the White House stance on the idea of halting the federal tax of 18.3 cents per gallon.
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- Polling shows President Trump faces political blowback from prices at their highest levels in four years.
- The average U.S. price for regular gas hit $4.52 per gallon Sunday, per AAA, up from just under $3 when the war began.
Driving the news: Wright, asked about a gas tax suspension on NBC's "Meet the Press," said "we're open to all ideas" to lower costs for consumers and businesses.
- But "everything has tradeoffs," he said.
- Democratic lawmakers and candidates — including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) — have floated legislation to suspend the federal tax.
Flashback: Last week, a White House official said the idea was "not currently under consideration."
The big picture: Federal tax holiday proposals have surfaced over the decades at times of high prices, but Congress has never enacted one.
- The gasoline tax and the 24.3-cent diesel tax support the nation's Highway Trust Fund that pays for roads, bridges and other transit.
Reality check: A suspension would require an act of Congress, though Trump has frequently used executive orders to act unilaterally.
Zoom out: The White House has tried several moves to ease the price spike from the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz.
- The administration has tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and waived the Jones Act to ease fuel shipments at U.S. ports.
Yes, but: None of these steps can offset the war's hit to supplies, and U.S. retail gasoline prices are tethered to oil prices set on global markets.
- Even a full suspension would shave only 10 to 16 cents per gallon, per a Bipartisan Policy Center estimate, meaning Washington has few tools to quickly bring relief from a war-driven price spike of more than $1.50.
What we're watching: Trump officials are road-testing arguments about energy prices as the midterm elections draw closer.
- Wright said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a major risk to regional energy supplies while acknowledging the "short-term dislocation" from the war.
- "We need to make that tradeoff, or we have a long-term threat to peace in the region, long-term threat to energy supplies, long-term threat to Americans," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."