Federal Gas Tax Holiday Would Save Average Driver Less Than $9 Per Month

Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) introduced legislation to suspend the tax for 90 days. The average driver would save less than $9 per month if the federal gas tax was suspended, according to an analysis published Monday by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The savings would not provide meaningful relief from higher gas prices.

Suspending the gas tax for three months would create a $10.5 billion shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund. That includes about $3 billion in additional interest costs on the borrowing that would be necessary to close the shortfall, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The trust fund is already facing insolvency as soon as 2028, and a temporary gas tax holiday would accelerate that crisis. The CRFB estimates that a three-month gas tax holiday would cause the trust fund to run dry seven weeks earlier than currently expected.

The week before the United States launched its war with Iran, the average gas price in America was less than $3 per gallon. Twelve weeks later, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and drivers are now paying an average of more than $4.50 per gallon of gas.

In all, the higher gas prices have drained an estimated $42 billion out of Americans' wallets. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R–S.D.) said the best way to get gas prices to normalize is to get the Strait of Hormuz open.