Biden Will Push for Congress to Suspend Federal Gas Tax for 3 Months, Despite Opposition from Other Democrats

President Joe Biden is calling for Congress to pass a three-month holiday on federal gas taxes, and urging state and local governments to pursue similar suspensions of their gas taxes.

A statement issued by the White House Wednesday morning blamed the war in Ukraine and pledged to help “working families,” noting that the price of gas had increased “dramatically around the world, and by almost $2 per gallon in America, since Putin began amassing troops on the border of Ukraine.”

“Today, [Biden] is calling on Congress and states to take additional legislative action to provide direct relief to American consumers who have been hit with Putin’s Price Hike,” the statement continued. “Specifically, he is calling on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for three months, through September, without taking any money away from the Highway Trust Fund. And he is calling on states to take similar action to provide some direct relief, whether suspending their own gas taxes or helping consumers in other ways.”

Federal taxes are currently 18 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24 cents per gallon of diesel fuel. That funds “critical” highway and public transportation projects, said the statement, but in this “unique moment” with gas prices averaging near $5 per gallon, suspending these taxes would “give Americans a little extra breathing room as they deal with the effects of Putin’s war in Ukraine.”

The White House praised Connecticut and New York’s governors for temporarily suspending their states’ gas taxes, and Illinois and Colorado for delaying planned tax increases. Biden is urging state and local governments to consider how they can “provide additional consumer relief,” through “temporary suspensions and pauses on state sales tax on gas” or “consumer rebates and relief payments.”

Biden is also asking oil companies and refineries to increase capacity and consider lowering their prices, even if that cuts into profits. According to the Washington Post, the White House says the combination of suspending federal, state, and local taxes and these other measures could reduce the price of gas by about a dollar per gallon.

However, the proposal is “likely to face tough opposition” in Congress, including from Biden’s own party, as the Post reported.

Several influential Democrats had expressed skepticism a gas tax suspension would actually provide real relief to consumers, including Congressional Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has been pushing a bill that would target price gouging by oil and gas companies .

Republicans have also scoffed at what they view as a “political stunt by a president who has seen his popularity plummet as the cost of an array of goods has gone up,” and will likely be reluctant to “give Biden a win on an economic issue of deep concern to voters five months before midterm congressional elections,” reported the Post.

Biden will deliver remarks on gas prices at 2:00 pm ET Wednesday.