Trump administration open to suspending federal gas tax as prices top $4.50

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Wright offered a broad endorsement of relief efforts: "All measures that can be taken to lower the price at the pump and lower the prices for Americans, this administration is in support of." Asked to clarify whether President Donald Trump would specifically support suspending the gas tax, Wright said, "We're open to all ideas."

Drivers currently owe roughly 18 cents per gallon in federal taxes on gasoline, with diesel taxed at approximately 24 cents per gallon. AAA data put the nationwide average at $4.52 per gallon as of Sunday. Even with the tax removed, The New York Times noted that prices would settle around $4.34 a gallon — a figure that still dwarfs the $2.98 national average recorded just before the Iran conflict started. Wright declined to predict whether gas prices could rise further, saying only that prices would fall "when we start to get free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz."

Democrats in Congress introduced a bill in March to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax through October.

The gas price surge — more than 50% since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 — has emerged as a significant political liability heading into midterm season. Iran has maintained a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint handling roughly a quarter of the world's seaborne crude, for much of the conflict. Each of two Iranian decisions to reopen the waterway has since been reversed, keeping tankers unable to pass through.

Back in March, Wright had appeared on "Meet the Press" predicting there was a "very good chance" prices would drop below $3 per gallon before summer — a forecast Sunday's interview conspicuously avoided revisiting. He declined to revisit that prediction on Sunday.

In a separate CBS News "Face the Nation" interview, Wright signaled the administration's patience has limits, saying "we'll go back to the military method to open the strait" if diplomacy shows no promise within days. That statement followed Trump's decision last week to suspend an operation that had sought to shepherd tankers through the Hormuz chokepoint.

Gas prices have been rising since the war began, with oil serving as an input cost for freight, fertilizer, manufacturing, and air travel. Experts have warned that a sustained energy shock could embed itself across consumer prices.