Sen.
Cornyn had previously been skeptical of the idea, but it’s gaining new steam as US gas prices have surged to $4.50 a gallon this week, according to American Automobile Association data, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran and midterm elections rapidly approaching. Trump said he wanted to suspend the federal gas tax in a Monday interview with CBS News.
Cornyn, who is running for re-election in November and is locked in a two-way primary runoff election on May 26 with MAGA darling Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, initially said last week suspending the gas tax would “bankrupt the country,” pointing out that money pays for the nation’s infrastructure. He took a different tack late Monday.
“There’s a difference between a temporary suspension because of current circumstances and a permanent suspension,” Cornyn told Bloomberg Tax. But he said the Senate must have a longer discussion about the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for roads and bridges.
Sen.
“President Trump has proposed to suspend the federal gas tax and he’s exactly right,” Hawley said in a statement announcing the bill. “American workers and families deserve immediate relief and this legislation will do just that.”
Some Democrats, led by Sens.
Not everyone in the Senate was on board with Trump’s proposal. Sen.
“The single best thing that can be done to lower gas prices is for him to end this damn war,” Wyden said.
(Updated with Hawley legislation in 5th and 6th paragraphs.)
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