Trump official opens door to gas tax suspension

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday the Trump administration is "open" to suspending the federal gasoline tax amid high pump prices.

Why it matters: His remarks slightly soften the White House stance on the idea of halting the federal tax of 18.3 cents per gallon.

• Polling shows President Trump faces political blowback from prices at their highest levels in four years.
• The average U.S. price for regular gas hit $4.52 per gallon Sunday, per AAA, up from just under $3 when the war began.

Driving the news: Wright, asked about a gas tax suspension on NBC's "Meet the Press," said "we're open to all ideas" to lower costs for consumers and businesses.

• But "everything has tradeoffs," he said.
• Democratic lawmakers and candidates — including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) — have floated legislation to suspend the federal tax.

Flashback: Last week, a White House official said the idea was "not currently under consideration."

The big picture: Federal tax holiday proposals have surfaced over the decades at times of high prices, but Congress has never enacted one.

• The gasoline tax and the 24.3-cent diesel tax support the nation's Highway Trust Fund that pays for roads, bridges and other transit.

Reality check: A suspension would require an act of Congress, though Trump has frequently used executive orders to act unilaterally.

Zoom out: The White House has tried several moves to ease the price spike from the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz.

• The administration has tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and waived the Jones Act to ease fuel shipments at U.S. ports.

Yes, but: None of these steps can offset the war's hit to supplies, and U.S. retail gasoline prices are tethered to oil prices set on global markets.

• Even a full suspension would shave only 10 to 16 cents per gallon, per a Bipartisan Policy Center estimate, meaning Washington has few tools to quickly bring relief from a war-driven price spike of more than $1.50.

What we're watching: Trump officials are road-testing arguments about energy prices as the midterm elections draw closer.

• Wright said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a major risk to regional energy supplies while acknowledging the "short-term dislocation" from the war.
• "We need to make that tradeoff, or we have a long-term threat to peace in the region, long-term threat to energy supplies, long-term threat to Americans," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."