Biden will demand a three-month suspension of the gas tax due to the rising costs

In order to “provide direct relief to American consumers who have been hit with Putin’s price hike,” a senior administration official said, the White House wants to stop charging the 18 cents per gallon (3.78 litres) tax until September and will urge US states that also charge at-the-pump taxes to follow suit.

The official pointed out that since Russian President Vladimir Putin started amassing troops on the Ukrainian border earlier this year, prices had increased by approximately $2 per gallon.

The Highway Trust Fund, which supports public transportation and pays for road maintenance, is supported in part by federal taxes on gasoline and diesel, but Biden will urge Congress to make sure the fund is not harmed by the lost revenue.

“The president believes that we can afford to suspend the gas tax to help consumers while using other revenues to make the Highway Trust Fund whole for the roughly $10 billion cost,” the official said. “Our deficit has already shrunk by a historic $1.6 trillion this year.”

These actions include negotiating the release of an additional 60 million barrels of oil from overseas partners, boosting access to biofuels, and releasing a million barrels of oil each day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

However, with national average gas prices hovering around $5 per gallon, the Biden administration is anxious to allay consumer concerns about rising prices before the November mid-term elections, which might result in the Democrats losing control of Congress.