President Trump endorsed suspending the 18.4-cent federal gasoline tax on Monday and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., filed a bill the same day to pause it for 90 days, as the Iran war pushed the national pump average to $4.52 a gallon.

The twin moves shift a domestic-relief debate that has run on the sidelines of the Hormuz crisis to the center of Washington's response. They also put a Republican president behind a measure that Democrats first introduced in March and could not move, and they crystallize the political cost of an oil shock that has lifted retail gasoline more than 50 percent since the war began.

What Trump said

Trump told reporters Monday he would back a pause "until it's appropriate," according to NBC News. Asked directly whether he would suspend the tax, he answered, "Yeah." He linked the relief to the war: "I'm going to reduce until the — let me tell you, as soon as this is over with Iran, as soon as it's over, you're going to see gasoline and oil drop like a rock."

In a separate phone interview Monday with CBS News, Trump called the suspension "a great idea" and said, "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." Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the president was "open to all ideas" to cut the cost of gas, including a federal tax pause.

The Hawley bill

Hawley's measure would suspend the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline and the 24.4-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel for 90 days after enactment, and would let the president extend each for another 90 days. "American workers and families deserve immediate relief and this legislation will do just that," Hawley said in a statement carried by NBC News.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said on X that she would introduce a companion House bill "in light of Trump's recent remarks." Luna wrote that "American families need this relief on gas prices" and that her office would work "directly with President Trump to ensure we deliver this win for the American people." Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who led the stalled March bill to suspend the tax through October, welcomed the shift. "This should have happened months ago," Pappas said on X.

Pump impact

The federal gas tax funds the Highway Trust Fund, which underwrites highway and mass-transit programs, according to the Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institution. The Bipartisan Policy Center estimated that a five-month suspension could cost the trust fund billions of dollars this fiscal year, and that retail prices would most likely fall 10 to 16 cents per gallon, with suppliers capturing the rest.

At $4.52 a gallon Monday, the national average was up about seven cents from the $4.446 the Journal reported a week ago and more than 50 percent above pre-war levels. The proposed cut, even at the high end of the Bipartisan Policy Center's range, would unwind roughly two weeks of the recent run-up.

Counterpoint

No Republican appropriator or Treasury official had publicly opposed the idea by press time, though both have historically resisted dipping into Highway Trust Fund revenue. The on-the-record reaction available Monday came only from supporters of the earlier Democratic version, who argued the relief should have come sooner.

What's next

The House and Senate would each need to pass a suspension bill before any cut reached drivers. With Hawley, Luna, Pappas and Kelly now on overlapping proposals and Trump publicly committed, the question for the week is whether leadership puts a vehicle on the floor before the Memorial Day driving period begins May 22.