Should the federal gas tax be temporarily suspended to help lower gas prices for consumers?

Background

The federal gas tax, currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel, has not been raised since 1993. The revenue it generates funds the Highway Trust Fund, which finances most federal spending on highways and mass transit. As gas prices have surged roughly 50 percent since late February 2026, reaching a national average of $4.52 per gallon according to AAA, lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation to temporarily suspend the tax. Congress has never enacted a federal gas tax holiday, though proposals have surfaced repeatedly during past price spikes, including in 2008 and 2022. Any suspension would require an act of Congress, as the president cannot waive the tax unilaterally. Several states, including Georgia, Indiana, and Utah, have already suspended or reduced their own gas taxes in response to rising prices.

Supporters argue that American families need immediate, tangible relief at the pump and that even a modest savings of roughly two to three dollars per fill-up would help consumers stretched by higher costs. Opponents raise several concerns. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that a five-month suspension would reduce Highway Trust Fund revenue by approximately $17 billion, or 46 percent of projected fiscal year 2026 gas and diesel tax receipts, and increase federal deficits by about $12 billion. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has warned that producers could respond by raising pre-tax prices, with the stimulative effect also adding upward pressure on inflation. Research from the Wharton School of Business has found that only about 60 to 80 percent of past state-level gas tax cuts were actually passed on to consumers. GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan has noted that the 18-cent levy amounts to a small fraction of the recent $1.50-per-gallon price increase, limiting the real-world impact.

What is at stake extends well beyond the price at the pump. According to an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, eight in ten Americans say gas prices are straining their budgets, making this a pocketbook issue that cuts across party lines. At the same time, the Highway Trust Fund has run deficits since 2008 and is projected to be depleted by fiscal year 2028, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A suspension would come just as Congress faces a September 30, 2026 deadline to reauthorize surface transportation spending, making the trade-off between short-term consumer relief and long-term infrastructure investment particularly consequential for every driver, commuter, and community that depends on federal road and transit funding.