Senate Democrat calls gas tax holiday ‘shortsighted and inefficient’ way to provide relief

Democratic Sen. Tom Carper (Del.) said late Tuesday that a suspension of gas and diesel taxes endorsed by President Biden is a “shortsighted and inefficient way to provide relief” to consumers.

Carper noted that the taxes are “the primary way that we pay for infrastructure projects on our roads” in a tweet.

“We should explore other options for lowering energy costs,” he added.

I’m glad that @POTUS is exploring ways to lower gas prices at the pump. Still, suspending the primary way that we pay for infrastructure projects on our roads is a shortsighted and inefficient way to provide relief. We should explore other options for lowering energy costs.

— Senator Tom Carper (@SenatorCarper) June 21, 2022

It was reported on Wednesday that Biden will to call on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months in a bid to ease rising gas prices, which have contributed to criticism and low approval ratings for Democrats .

Biden is also expected to call on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar relief to consumers.

However, Congress is likely to quash the White House effort to back a suspension of the federal gasoline tax. 

Doubts about pausing the tax have come from both sides of the political aisle.

“People want their bridges and their roads, and we have an infrastructure bill we just passed this summer, and they want to take that all away,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in February, speaking on the idea of suspending gas taxes.

Former President Obama also said during his 2008 presidential campaign that the idea was a “gimmick” that allowed politicians to “say that they did something.” Obama at the time also warned that oil companies could offset the tax relief by increasing their prices.