Voters said in the 2026 midterm elections that they want lower costs for fuel and everything else. A crop of the newly-elected Democratic senators have endorsed a fix they say can save motorists almost 20 cents-per-gallon at the pump right away: Suspending the federal gas tax.
"I think we could suspend the federal gas tax and the federal diesel tax," Texas Senator-elect James Talarico said in a Nov. 4 interview with ABC's The View. "That would provide some immediate relief at the pump for working families. Everybody when you fill up your tank, you are paying a hidden tank. And this federal gas tax, if we suspend it, it could drop the price of gas by 18 cents a gallon immediately."
The comments come as the average price of gas in the United States
on Thursday, Nov. 5, was $4.10, according to AAA. That's up from an average of $3.07 on Nov. 5, 2025.
Voters consistently said in polls leading up to the election that gas prices were top of mind as they cast their ballots. Trump went into Election Day with higher gas prices than any of his recent predecessors. He promised in multiple campaign rallies leading up to the election that the prices would drop soon, even as AAA's average national gas price has been above $4 per gallon since April.
The USA TODAY Cars Team took a look at how gas taxes work, what other newly-elected senators have said about suspending gas taxes and how likely it is to come to fruition in the next Congress.
How much gas tax does the federal government collect?
The federal government has been collecting taxes on every gas purchase made at a U.S. station since the 1930s. The current rate of 18.4 cents per gallon was established by a law that was passed by Congress in 1993. Transportation funding advocates have lamented the fact that Congress has not moved to increase the gas tax in over three decades.
The gas tax is typically authorized by Congress each time it adopts a federal highway funding bill because the revenue it generates 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 transit construction projects.
The federal gas tax was first established in 1932 at a rate of 1 cent per gallon. It has been increased multiple times since then by Congress, and some lawmakers have called to tie it to inflation, as votes to increase taxes have become politically difficult for lawmakers to stomach because of voters.
Most states also tack on their own gas taxes to fund local road projects.
Critics say suspending gas taxes deprives federal and state coffers of necessary funding for road improvements.
What would it take to eliminate or suspend the gas tax?
A suspension or elimination of the federal gas tax would require an act of Congress since the collection of the levy was authorized by lawmakers in previous highway funding bills.
The idea is being floated now because Congress passed a temporary extension of the current federal highway funding bill, which was included in former President Joe Biden's signature bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed in 2021, that is set to expire in December.
The last time Congress took a vote to do anything other than reauthorize the gas tax at its current 18.4 cents-per-gallon level was 1993.
Since the tax was first implemented at a rate of 1 cent per gallon in 1932, Congress has voted to increase the fuel levy nine times, including the most recent vote in 1993, according to the Congressional Research Service.
In that same time span, lawmakers have only voted twice to lower the federal gas tax, once going from 1.5 cents per gallon to 1 cent per gallon in 1934 and once going from 9.1 cents per gallon to 9 cents per gallon in 1987.
What have other new senators said about suspending the gas tax?
Several other newly elected senators endorsed the idea of suspending the federal gas tax to help drivers save money at the pump before the election.
South Carolina Senator-elect Annie Andrews, a Democrat, called for a suspension of federal gas and diesel taxes in September.
“As I’ve traveled across South Carolina, I’ve heard the same thing from families and workers everywhere: more and more of their paycheck is going toward filling up the tank," Andrews said in a Sept. 15 statement. "That’s why I called for the gas tax to be suspended weeks ago because no one should have to choose between putting food on the table and filling up their tank."
Kansas Senator-elect Adam Hamilton, also a Democrat, said in an Oct. 6 Facebook post that the federal gas tax should be suspended.
"I'm calling to suspend the gas tax until the Iran war ends," he wrote. "Prices must come down."
Iowa Senator-elect Josh Turek, also a Democrat, issued a call on Sept. 16 for a pause on all diesel exports, temporarily suspending the federal gas tax and tapping the strategic petroleum reserve to lower prices, according to the Des Moines Register, which is owned by USA TODAY Co.
Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed said in a Sept. 17 X post "of course" he supports suspending the gas tax.
President Donald Trump and some U.S. lawmakers also floated the idea of suspending the federal gas tax to help drivers who are now feeling the pinch at the pump before the election, so it could become an area of potential bipartisan agreement in the new era of divided government.
Keith Laing is an automotive reporter on the National Trending Desk at USA TODAY. Contact Keith at klaing@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gas is still above $4. New lawmakers say they can lower costs
