Which states have the highest gas taxes?

(NEXSTAR) – President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright earlier this week voiced support for a suspension of the federal gas tax, as part of an effort to mitigate the rising prices of gasoline and diesel fuel amid the war in Iran.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Trump said during a call to CBS News on Monday. “Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.”

A suspension of the federal gas tax (or a gas tax “holiday,” as it’s often called) would still need congressional approval, and several GOP lawmakers are already on board. But the idea may face resistance from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who feel that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — or an end to U.S. military action in Iran — is the best course of action for bringing down gas prices.

“The best way to get gas prices to normalize in my view is to get the strait open,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.-South Dakota) said Monday, adding that a suspension of the federal gas tax would be detrimental to the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by those excise taxes.

Democratic lawmakers, including Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, have also spoken out against the idea, with Neal accusing Trump of championing a gas tax holiday “rather than dealing with the real problem he has created” with his policies.

Several legislators, meanwhile, have already introduced bills aiming for federal gas tax holidays. In March, Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.) introduced a bill aiming for a temporary gas-tax suspension, with Blumenthal arguing that “Trump’s war of choice........

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