WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months – an election-year move meant to ease financial pressures. But it’s not clear Biden has the votes to suspend the taxes.
Many lawmakers in his own party have expressed reservations. Biden says he knows the move wouldn’t reduce “all the pain but it will be a big help.”
If the gas tax savings were fully passed along to consumers, people would save roughly 3.6% at the pump.
Prices average about $5 a gallon nationwide.
Biden also wants states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar relief.
In his plan, announced Wednesday, he challenged gas station owners to reduce their price for a gallon of gas more quickly when the cost of a barrel of oil comes down.
Biden also attributed the sharp rise in prices as a reaction to the West cutting off Russian oil as a sanction against Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(Copyright 2022, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
WBAP/KLIF Contributed to this report.
