00:00Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the Trump administration is open to any and all ideas to
00:04bring the price of gas down for Americans, including a temporary suspension of the federal
00:09gas tax, which is 18.4 cents a gallon. Here he is on Meet the Press Sunday. We're open to
00:15all ideas.
00:16Everything has trade-offs, all ideas to lower prices for American consumers and American
00:20businesses. Wright didn't get into the trade-offs he mentioned there, but the federal gas tax is
00:26nothing to sniff at. It brings in $36 to $40 billion annually for the Highway Trust Fund.
00:31That money is used for infrastructure to fund projects both for roads and the country's mass
00:35transit systems. Now, in addition to the federal tax, each state also sets their own rate for an
00:39additional gas tax. So far, Georgia, Indiana, and Utah have paused theirs amid the pricing surge.
00:45Now, at the moment, gas is hovering around $4.52 a gallon. That's the national average. Before the
00:52war in Iran broke out on February 28th, prices were below $3 a gallon.
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