The White House is reportedly mulling over a federal gas tax holiday as gas prices hit a $5 national average in June with no indication of going back to pre-Biden Administration rates.
President Joe Biden’s economic team is expected to meet this week on whether to push the U.S. Congress to act on suspending the federal gas tax, according to anonymous sources reported in The Hill.
One Democrat close to the White House discussion told The Hill that suspending the federal gas tax is “definitely an option on the table” to give Americans dealing with the compounding effects of inflation and prices at the pump some relief. (RELATED: Biden Privately Admitted His Gambit To Lower Gas Prices Was Pointless: REPORT)
The Democratic Party is moving to lower prices in hopes it helps their chances of withstanding the “shellacking” their party is predicted to take in the November midterms, The Hill reported.
Former economic advisor to former President Barack Obama, Robert Wolf, said Monday that increased gas prices are due to the Russian war in Ukraine. Wolf also said he supports a federal gas tax holiday to fight rising costs as long as it is tied to the “Putin Price Hike.”
“I know that some may view this as somewhat gimmicky because it will revert itself at some point, but a majority of the recent gas hike since the beginning of the year has been due to the Russian invasion,” Wolf told The Hill.
Wolf said hedging the federal gas tax holiday to the Russian war “makes it more strategic and smart,” according to the outlet.
“I also think it ties directly into the Putin price hike narrative and aligns well with President Biden’s concern about how inflation is impacting hard-working Americans, and he will use every tool available,” Wolf added.
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I am “supportive of the Biden administration implementing a federal gas tax holiday but only during the period of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has driven up prices.” @thehill @amieparnes https://t.co/BJGF5XHKI7— Robert Wolf (@robertwolf32) June 13, 2022
Chief economist at Moody’Analytics, Mark Zandi, told The Hill that a federal gas tax holiday would help energy companies and wealthy individuals more than it would help middle or lower-income U.S. consumers and hurt U.S. efforts to complete much-needed infrastructure projects.
Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she does not support the federal gas tax holiday but instead urges the Biden Administration to remove obstacles to exploration, extraction, and refining of oil and gas, reported CBS13.
“On the gas tax holiday, I’ve always been not in favor of that, I don’t think,” said Capito. “That’s a short-term fix for a very long-term problem. And remember that the gas tax does go to rehabilitating and modernizing our highways. That’s important.”