Trump Plans to Suspend the Federal Gas Tax Until Prices Go Back Down

President Donald Trump said he plans to suspend the 18-cents per gallon federal gas tax “for a period of time” until prices go back down, according to Nancy Cordes with CBS News.

Gas prices have been steadily rising since the U.S. began its military action in Iran, and that country closed down the Strait of Hormuz.

Cordes spoke by phone with the president Monday and said he “really seemed to warm up to the idea as we continued our conversation,” she said.

“We’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in. But, yes, we’re going to be doing something on that,” Trump told Cordes.

“Now, pausing the federal gas tax would take an act of Congress,” Cordes said, continuing:

There are Democratic lawmakers who have introduced legislation to either pause or reduce the federal gas tax. It does come with repercussions, because this is money that goes to fund highway repairs, highway construction, other transit projects. And, so, you’re looking at a significant hit to the funding for those projects for as long as that gas tax were to be paused. But with gasoline now topping $4.50 a gallon, it does appear as though there is growing recognition that something may need to be done to ease pain at the pump.

Cordes said dropping the gas tax could happen relatively quickly since the president would press Republicans, plus “you have Democrats in the House and the Senate who have already introduced legislation to do it.”

“It just depends on whether lawmakers are willing to put it at the top of the agenda, and whether the House and the Senate agree on whether they want to pause the gas tax entirely for a specific period of time, whether they simply want to reduce it, how long this would last before they phase it back in,” Cordes said. “That kind of thing would all have to be hammered out.”

Cordes added that the president did not seem interested in a bailout or bridge loan for the airline industry, and that he argued “that the airlines are not doing badly.”

Watch the clip above via CBS News.

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