President Trump puts ‘I did it’ sticker on gas pump, could be a call back to Biden
When gas prices hit record highs under the Biden administration, stickers with his photo and the words “I did it” were placed on gas pumps. Now they have Trump’s face.
- Momentum is growing to suspend or eliminate the 18.4 cent federal gasoline tax, citing soaring gasoline prices due to the Iran war.
- A lobbying group for major automakers has proposed replacing the gas tax with a new vehicle fee based on weight.
- Suspending or repealing this tax would require an act of Congress, but Congress has not voted to cancel the tax since 1932.
There appears to be momentum building to suspend or eliminate the 18 cents per gallon federal gas tax to help motorists struggling with rising gas prices due to the Iran war.
The Automotive Innovation Alliance, the largest lobbying group for automakers in Washington, has endorsed a plan to eliminate the federal gas tax and introduce a new vehicle fee based on vehicle weight.
“Depending on how long the current global oil crisis lasts, we expect consumers to shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles,” John Bozella, president of the alliance, which works with most major automakers including Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Honda and Toyota, said in a blog post. “This will likely accelerate the bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund, the government’s dedicated account for building, repairing, and maintaining America’s transportation infrastructure.”
The comments follow similar statements by President Trump and some U.S. lawmakers who floated the idea of suspending the federal gas tax to help drivers who are currently feeling the pinch at the pump. According to the AAA Auto Club, the increase in the national average gasoline price to $4.09 per gallon on April 3 is also a contributing factor. This figure is up from the national average price of $3.10 a month ago on March 3.
“Gasoline tax is something that people have been talking about,” Trump said recently when asked if he was considering suspending the gas tax, which has been collected by the federal government since the 1930s. “It’s something you keep in your pocket if you think you need it.”
On March 13, two Democratic members of the U.S. Senate also introduced a bill calling for a suspension of the federal gasoline tax until October 1, in light of soaring domestic gasoline prices.
The USA TODAY Cars team investigated what it would take to suspend or eliminate the federal gas tax, and how likely it is to happen.
How much gas tax does the federal government collect?
The federal government has collected taxes on all gasoline purchases made at U.S. gas stations since the 1930s. The current tax rate of 18.4 cents per gallon was established by law passed by Congress in 1993. Transportation funding advocates lament the fact that Congress hasn’t moved to raise gas taxes in more than 30 years.
Gasoline taxes are normally approved by Congress each time it adopts a federal highway funding bill. That’s because the revenue generated by the gas tax is used to fund the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Highway Trust Fund, which is distributed to states to help pay for road and transportation construction projects.
The federal gasoline tax was first enacted in 1932 at a rate of 1 cent per gallon. Since then, Congress has raised taxes multiple times, and some lawmakers have called for tying tax increases to inflation, as voters make it politically difficult to vote for increases.
Most states also impose their own gas taxes to fund local road projects.
Why does the automaker lobby support repealing the gas tax?
“The market share of conventional gasoline vehicles has declined by 24 percentage points since 2016. Hybrids accounted for 19 percent of sales in January 2026,” said AutoAlliance Chairman Bosella. He also added that online searches for EVs have increased by 20% since the Iran war began.
“So we may see a shift in the market,” he said. “Congress is currently considering a five-year highway and transportation funding bill. Now is the perfect time to consider policy changes that do two things: lower gas prices and shore up the trust fund for the era of fuel-efficient gas, hybrid, and electric cars. Here’s an idea: What if we eliminated the federal gas tax and replaced it with a single tax?” every Are cars based on weight? ”
Bozzella said his proposed vehicle fee would be “like a registration fee. It’s simple and straightforward and easy to collect.”
“This policy ensures that every vehicle on our roads contributes something to the maintenance of America’s transportation network,” Bosella wrote. “Right now, millions of drivers are on the road but paying little (or nothing) into trust funds. People who drive older, less fuel-efficient cars and people who travel longer distances are bearing the financial burden. This is unfair.”
The federal gasoline tax hasn’t been raised since 1993, and at current levels it only brings in about $40 billion a year, according to the Tax Policy Center. The federal government typically spends about $60 billion on transportation projects, but infrastructure advocates say that’s barely enough to maintain the nation’s roads and transit systems. Most states also impose their own gas taxes to fund local road projects.
Infrastructure advocates say Bozella’s proposal to eliminate the gas tax without a replacement like a vehicle fee would drastically reduce federal funding for road improvements and increase maintenance costs for drivers.
“Changes to the current funding approach must pass a litmus test: It must be reliable while generating sufficient revenue. It must be seamlessly manageable while protecting privacy,” Brittney Kohler, legislative director for transportation and infrastructure services at the National League of Cities, said in a blog post.
“Above all else, it has to pass the equity and affordability test,” she says. “Most of the user fee revenue tools being discussed today do not meet these basic test points for most Americans.”
What would it take to repeal or suspend the gas tax?
Suspending or repealing the federal gasoline tax would require an act of Congress, as the collection of the federal gasoline tax was authorized by lawmakers in a previous highway funding bill.
The idea is now being floated as the current federal highway funding bill, which was included in former President Joe Biden’s signature bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in 2021, expires on September 30th.
The last time Congress voted on anything other than reauthorizing the gasoline tax at its current level of 18.4 cents per gallon was in 1993.
Since the fuel tax was first introduced in 1932 at a rate of 1 cent per gallon, Congress has voted to raise the fuel tax nine times, including the most recent vote in 1993, according to the Congressional Research Service.
During the same period, lawmakers voted to lower the federal gasoline tax only twice: once in 1934, when it was lowered from 1.5 cents per gallon to 1 cent, and once in 1987, when it was lowered from 9.1 cents per gallon to 9 cents per gallon.
Congress has been debating the idea of temporarily suspending the gas tax when fuel prices soar, or eliminating it entirely in favor of Bozella’s proposal, which would tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive or the weight of their vehicles. But lawmakers have never voted to cancel the tax since they first authorized it in 1932.
