WashingtonUS gas hit its highest price since 2022.
The American Automobile Association put the national average at $4.55/gal; Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Trump would consider suspending the federal 18.4¢/gal gas tax.
No suspension bill has reached Congress; Wright declined to forecast whether prices hit $5.
Sources: USA Today, The Times of India, Yahoo
THE TAX THAT NEVER MOVES
The federal gasoline excise has been 18.4¢/gal since 1993. Congress has not raised it in over three decades, even as inflation has eroded its real value by more than half. It is one of the longest-frozen federal taxes in American history.
WHERE THE MONEY GOES
Gas tax revenue funds the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for federal road and bridge construction. Because the rate is fixed in cents-per-gallon rather than as a percentage, revenue has stagnated while construction costs and fuel efficiency have both risen. The fund has required general-revenue bailouts since 2008.
THE HOLIDAY PRECEDENT
Biden suspended the federal gas tax for three months in mid-2022 when prices crossed $5/gal. Economists across the spectrum panned it: at most a few cents reached consumers, the rest was captured by refiners and retailers as margin. The political signal mattered more than the price relief.
WHY GAS IS POLITICAL OXYGEN
Americans see the price of gasoline on enormous lit signs every few miles — no other consumer good has this constant visibility. Sitting presidents' approval ratings track the pump price more tightly than they track the unemployment rate or the S&P 500. This is why every White House reaches for the tax when prices spike.
THE HORMUZ TRANSMISSION
Roughly a fifth of global oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz. When tensions there spike, Brent jumps within hours; US pump prices follow within two to three weeks as refiners reprice inventory. A federal tax pause cannot offset a sustained Brent move — the geopolitical signal upstream dominates the fiscal lever downstream.