President Biden faces growing questions about whether he will support a federal gas tax exemption in an effort to save Americans money at the pumps as gas prices rise. prices remain high due to inflation and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The White House hasn’t expressed a clear position on the matter, saying it doesn’t take anything off the table, as states like Maryland and Connecticut have implemented a gas tax exemption, and Virginia state lawmakers are considering a temporary suspension.

And it’s an issue that divides his own party, as he’s supported by swing-state senators facing tough races in November, but opposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the swing vote of the Senate Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.).

Six Democratic governors have called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the rest of the year, which would save Americans 18.4 cents per gallon.

“Money saved at the pump translates into dollars in consumers’ pockets for groceries, childcare, rent, and more,” wrote Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, Tom Wolf from Pennsylvania, Jared Polis from Colorado, Michelle Lujan Grisham from New Mexico and Tony from Wisconsin. Evers in a letter to congressional leaders last month.

And the push has been bipartisan.

Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan told CNN on Sunday that he supports a gas tax break at the federal level.

“We pushed for that while just increasing domestic productions. I thought it was a good step when the Biden administration tapped the oil reserves, which will help bring those prices down. But I think suspending the federal gas tax is a good idea,” Hogan said.

The White House hasn’t shut down the idea — but hasn’t endorsed it either.

“It’s not out of place, actually. The president is looking at all options to provide relief to consumers regarding gasoline prices. Of course, a lot of these conversations are happening in Congress. But, again, the president is not taking anything off the table at this point,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told reporters on Thursday.

White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said that should be on the table when asked if he personally thought a suspension was good policy.

“I’m not going to legislate from here or even get into ongoing political considerations beyond saying: when we say ‘all options are on the table’, we mean it,” he said. Friday.

The White House had no update beyond that when asked for comment this week.

On Capitol Hill, swing state Democrats, whose senses. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) and Maggie Hassan (DN.H.), push the idea.

Hassan and Kelly introduced legislation that would suspend the tax even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up prices, as prices were already high as supply that was cut during the coronavirus pandemic has took a long time to recover.

Asked Tuesday if he had the support of the White House, Kelly did not answer directly, instead touting the proposal as a bipartisan idea.

“There is, and there has been in the past, even bipartisan support for this,” he said. “It’s never been passed before, and we’ll keep trying to get things done.”

Hassan’s spokeswoman, Anne Feldman, told The Hill via email that the senator is still pushing for the bill with leaders in Congress and the Biden administration.

“We need to use every tool at our disposal to bring down the cost of granite statorists at the pump, and one way to do that is to eliminate the gas tax when we see exorbitant prices,” said Hassan in a statement. shared by the spokesperson.

But other members of their party, whose views span the ideological spectrum, have opposed a gas tax exemption, and with widespread opposition from congressional Republicans, the legislation faces a battle. difficult.

Manchin, a moderate Democrat and a frequent Senate voter, raised the possibility of spending cuts on tax-funded highways.

“People want their bridges and their roads, and we have an infrastructure bill that we just passed this summer, and they want to take it all away,” Manchin said in February.

Last week, Pelosi also raised concerns about highway funds – and suggested direct-to-consumer payments might work better.

“The pro is very showbiz. ‘OK, let’s just do something, that’s it.’ But that doesn’t necessarily land in the consumer’s pocket,” Pelosi said at a press conference.

“How can we help people directly? If you have to pay for it and don’t want it to come from the trust fund, something could be a cashback card or direct payments. And those are the things that are being considered,” she added.

The questions come as the Biden administration has taken other steps to try to mitigate high gas prices — and constant attacks from Republicans. Last week he announced the largest-ever release of oil from the country’s strategic reserve, saying it would release one million barrels a day over a six-month period.

The federal government charges an excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, which has not increased since 1993 under former President Clinton and is not indexed to inflation. The national average gas price as of Tuesday was $4.18, according to AAA.

Severin Borenstein, facilities director of the Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, argued that a temporary suspension of the federal gasoline tax would not allow consumers to save enough to be worth it, and that a portion of the savings would go to producers as well.

“We already have huge volatility and I think even if we suspended the gas tax, it wouldn’t result in a significant decrease that consumers might say, ‘boy, that was a lot of relief.’ It would be a small change,” he said.

Borenstein added that governors moving to suspend state gasoline taxes is not an unexpected political move as Americans seek relief at the pumps.

“People who are affected by high gas prices are very vocal and even people who aren’t really affected by high gas prices just think it’s wrong that oil prices and prices gasoline are so high,” he said. “So they say, ‘Do something about it.’ ”