Trump Personally Confirms Gas Tax Suspension Plan — But Congress Holds the Keys and the Math Is Ugly

What Changed Since Yesterday

This is no longer a vague suggestion from a cabinet secretary. On Monday, May 11, President Trump told CBS News White House correspondent Nancy Cordes directly: "I think it's a great idea. Yup, 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."

Energy Secretary Chris Wright floated the idea Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. Trump just made it official policy.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Average national gas price as of Monday: $4.52 per gallon, according to AAA.

Average gas price two days before the U.S.-Israel strike on Iran in late February: just under $3.00.

That's a $1.54-per-gallon increase in roughly 10 weeks.

The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel. Suspending it drops average gas to about $4.33 and diesel from $5.63 to roughly $5.38, according to Forbes.

Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the nonpartisan Bipartisan Policy Center, said in a Monday post: "For a sedan at national average prices, filling up your car costs $18-$25 more than it did before the war. A federal gas tax holiday saves you up to $2 per fillup."

GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan told CBS News: "I really don't think it would make much of a difference when gas prices are $1.50 a gallon more than last year. That 18 cents doesn't really amount to a whole lot."

In California — where prices have hit $6.16 per gallon — an SUV driver saves between $2.36 and $3.09 per fill-up, according to Lautz's calculator. They're still paying $24 to $32 more per tank than before the war.

The Congressional Wall

The federal fuel tax is federal law. Trump cannot suspend it by executive order.

Congress has to act. That's a significant obstacle given the current partisan environment and approaching midterm elections.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said Monday he plans to introduce legislation to suspend the tax, according to CBS News. Some Democratic senators — Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) — already introduced similar legislation back in March, according to Forbes.

But legislative momentum and actual votes are two different things.

The Highway Trust Fund Problem

Suspending the gas tax drains the Highway Trust Fund.

The fund brought in $4 billion in March alone from fuel taxes and related highway excises, according to Transportation Department data cited by Forbes.

GasBuddy's De Haan estimates the suspension would cost the federal government $2.1 billion per month in lost revenue.

That money funds roads, bridges, and mass transit. The infrastructure your truck driver uses to deliver goods. The highway your commute depends on. It doesn't disappear — it just doesn't get fixed.

Cutting taxes while the Highway Trust Fund is already structurally underfunded and while federal spending is at record levels creates a real fiscal problem.

What the Right Would — and Should — Argue

A conservative case FOR the suspension: gas prices are crushing working-class Americans right now, consumer sentiment hit an all-time low in May according to Forbes, and immediate relief at the pump matters to real families. States like Indiana (Gov. Mike Braun extended a 36-cent state gas tax suspension) and Georgia (Gov. Brian Kemp suspended a 33-cent state tax for 60 days) are already doing it.

A conservative case AGAINST: $2.1 billion a month in Highway Trust Fund losses is NOT small government — it's deferred liability. The fund pays for infrastructure that the private sector doesn't. And if the tax phases back in when prices drop, you're just shifting the timeline, not solving the supply problem. The Iran war is the problem. Drill more, sanction harder, end the conflict — that actually moves the needle.

Left-leaning outlets covering this story — CBS, the New York Times, and the Associated Press — frame it as "this won't help much." That's accurate on the math. But Democratic senators already proposed this same policy in March. Kelly and Blumenthal didn't get much attention for that.

Bottom Line

Trump has now committed publicly to the gas tax suspension. Sen. Hawley is introducing the bill. There's even some Democratic co-sponsorship precedent from March.

But 18 cents off $4.52 is not a solution to a $1.54 price spike caused by a war. It's a political gesture dressed up as economic relief.

Regular people will see about $2 per fill-up. Meanwhile, the Highway Trust Fund takes a $2.1 billion monthly hit, and the real problem — war-driven oil supply disruption — goes unaddressed.

Congress still has to say yes.