With gas prices stuck above $4, the White House is considering suspending the federal gas tax. But analysts say such a move would offer little relief to consumers – and erode a source of revenue that matters for transportation infrastructure and the federal budget.
The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and gasohol (fuel made of unleaded gasoline and ethanol), and 24.3 cents per gallon for diesel. The taxes fund federal transportation spending through the Highway Trust Fund. They are separate from taxes levied at the state level, some of which have already been suspended.
Although the White House has floated the idea of using an executive order to suspend the federal tax, only Congress can make changes to how the Highway Trust Fund raises revenue. Lawmakers have introduced such legislation as prices have surged this spring, including the Gas Prices Relief Act of 2026.
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But a mid-April analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that suspending the federal gas tax for five months, as the bills suggest, would result in a $17 billion loss of revenues.
