What Happened?
Your gas bill at the pump could change if Congress suspends the federal gas tax, but the savings may not reach your wallet in full. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), Congress's nonpartisan in-house research arm, released a new report examining what a federal gas tax suspension would actually do.
The federal gasoline tax sits at 18.4 cents per gallon and the diesel tax at 24.4 cents per gallon, rates unchanged since 1993.
That money flows into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), the main federal account used to pay for road construction and public transit programs. The Highway Trust Fund already faces a structural imbalance, with projected spending exceeding projected revenue.
Why Does it Matter to Me?
Even if the tax were lifted, retailers and distributors might keep part of the savings rather than passing them on.
The CRS report also found that benefits would not be spread evenly: higher-income households, who drive more, would receive a larger dollar benefit than lower-income households, even though lower-income households spend a higher share of their income on fuel. If Congress suspends the tax without replacing that revenue, the HTF balance would shrink further, putting federal highway and transit spending under pressure.
Both Sides, Now
The Trump administration has expressed interest in pump relief and has discussed a gas tax suspension as one option, though no law suspending the tax has been enacted. Congress would need to pass legislation to make any suspension happen and would also decide whether to replace lost revenue or allow highway and transit funding to fall.
Opponents point to the HTF's existing fiscal strain. In an October 2023 report, the Congressional Budget Office said Highway Trust Fund outlays exceeded revenues and interest earnings by about $39 billion, and it documented that Congress authorized $90 billion in transfers to the highway account and $28 billion to the transit account in September 2021. A separate U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that Congress had transferred more than $270 billion in general revenues into the HTF from 2008 through 2021.
What Happens Next?
The law governing federal highway and transit spending has expired and is being extended while Congress works on a multiyear renewal, giving lawmakers a near-term opening to address the HTF's revenue gap.
The Congressional Budget Office projected that Highway Trust Fund balances would be exhausted in 2028.
No legislation suspending the gas tax has been enacted, and Congress would have to decide whether to offset the revenue the Highway Trust Fund would lose. The unresolved question is whether any relief at the pump would be worth the cost to the roads and transit systems Americans rely on every day.
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