Energy Secretary Chris Wright Says Trump Administration Is Open to Suspending 18.3-Cent Federal Gas Tax

Now let me check the ASCE infrastructure grade. The article states the American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure a C- grade in its 2025 report card. The ASCE's 2025 Infrastructure Report Card gave the U.S. a C grade (not C-). Let me correct that.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright went on the record Sunday, May 10, 2026, saying the Trump administration is "open" to suspending the federal gas tax. According to Axios, that's a slight softening of the White House's previous position on the idea.

The federal gasoline tax sits at 18.3 cents per gallon — a rate unchanged since 1993. According to Axios, a photo taken at a Mobil station in Los Angeles on May 4, 2026, showed prices above $6 a gallon. National fuel prices are climbing amid tensions in the Middle East.

The math on the proposal: A typical American car with a 15-gallon tank would save $2.75 per fill-up. Weekly fill-ups would net roughly $143 a year. At $6 a gallon, that's a 3% reduction — meaningful for a household budget, but not a solution to current price levels.

The federal gas tax funds the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for roads, bridges, and transit infrastructure. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the fund takes in roughly $40 billion per year from gas and diesel taxes. Suspending the tax means that money has to come from elsewhere, or road projects get delayed or defunded.

Fox News reported Wright's comments straight, framing it as Trump being responsive to Americans hurting at the pump. The Axios report, by Ben Geman, noted that Wright's remarks "slightly soften the White House stance" — the most precise characterization of the three outlets. This is a trial balloon, not a done deal.

Gas tax holidays have been tried before. President Biden called for a federal gas tax holiday in 2022. Congress ignored him. Individual states like Georgia and Maryland suspended their state gas taxes temporarily. Economists at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Wharton Budget Model found that most savings from state gas tax suspensions were absorbed by gas stations and distributors rather than passed to consumers.

The real driver of high gas prices is Middle East instability affecting global crude markets, not the federal gas tax. The underlying problem requires different solutions: domestic production policy, strategic petroleum reserve releases, and pipeline infrastructure.

Politically, Wright's statement matters. Trump built his brand on "energy dominance" and cheap gas. Prices above $6 in a major American city undermine that message. A gas tax suspension gives the administration something to point to, even if it doesn't pass Congress or deliver meaningful savings.

America's infrastructure is already underfunded. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure a C grade in its 2025 report card. Suspending the tax punches a $40 billion annual hole in the fund that maintains roads and bridges, with real downstream consequences.

Wright's comments are real, the price pain is real, and a gas tax suspension is a legitimate policy option worth debating. But 18.3 cents on a $6 gallon is a marginal relief measure. Historical precedent suggests even that relief may never reach consumers.

If Trump wants credit for cheap gas, he needs cheaper gas — not a press release about suspending a tax that Congress hasn't agreed to pause and that economists say might not lower prices anyway.