Senate Republicans are growing impatient and looking for more action to confront rising gasoline prices as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran continues to roil global energy markets.
A member of Senate Republican leadership floated legislation Tuesday to lower the price Americans pay at the pump. Some senators are signaling interest in drawing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And others are pressing Pentagon officials on how they plan to use the military to support oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The growing calls for new measures highlight the increasing unrest among a faction of congressional Republicans who want to directly tackle a major affordability issue as the war stretches well into its second week. It also represents a new fissure within the conference, with some war hawks and administration allies continuing to opt for a wait-and-see approach.
“We should do everything we can, rather than sitting back and commentating,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
“People’s gas prices are very high, energy prices are high, everything’s high,” Hawley said. “We, Congress, need to do everything we can to get that down. So, you know, maybe we should take some votes on some things to lower those costs, lower health care costs, lower the cost of gas.”
United States crude prices are up more than $10 per barrel relative to when the war began, but they have fluctuated wildly amid changing news reports about conditions in the Strait of Hormuz and American military action. The national average price of gasoline reached $3.54 on Tuesday, an increase of more than 50 cents since the start of the month.
Senate Democrats sent a letter Tuesday to President Donald Trump requesting public hearings with key administration officials. The missive states that “American families are now grappling with skyrocketing gas and energy prices at a moment when they’re already facing a national affordability crisis.”
The Democrats discussed the energy prices during their weekly caucus lunch Tuesday, said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.). The topic did not come up at the Republican lunch, according to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
“Surprisingly not,” Murkowski said. “People in Alaska are talking about it, I can tell you that.”
Democratic senators — including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) — have announced plans to introduce at least three bills intended to bring down gasoline prices.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) for the first time framed his “Pay Less at the Pump Act” as a potential solution. The legislation would repeal the “Superfund tax” on crude oil and imported petroleum products, which funds toxic waste cleanups.
“Our nation needs to continue to produce more energy,” Barrasso said on the Senate floor. “In the meantime, Congress should take action to lower gas prices for American families. My bill, the ‘Pay Less at the Pump Act,’ does exactly that.”
Some Republicans are expressing openness to releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move the administration has reportedly considered and that Senate Democratic leaders have called for.
But White House officials have said they are not yet ready to go there, and most Republicans appear to agree.
Drawing from the SPR or lifting the federal gasoline tax, as Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has proposed, are “the two easy buttons that they like to push, neither of which makes any sense to me,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
“I certainly don’t see any need for Congress to address it directly, while it’s in this volatile state,” Cramer said.
Indeed, a majority of Republicans say they believe the best course of action right now is not to directly confront the energy price issue but instead to ensure that the U.S. wraps up the war quickly. Many have also said the U.S. should continue to produce high levels of oil and gas to contribute more supply to domestic and global markets.
The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee held a briefing with Pentagon officials Tuesday afternoon at which Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) asked for more information on how the military can help ensure oil and gas ships can navigate the Strait of Hormuz safely, according to the senator.
“There are things they can do and will [do] if they have to,” Hoeven said. “Obviously, the better route is what the president [said] yesterday, which is, how do we wrap this up in the near term.”
Trump announced after the briefing concluded that the United States had “hit, and completely destroyed” a number of inactive mine-laying vessels and that more strikes would follow.
“I think what Trump has been doing — building a relationship with Venezuela and trying to get more drilling — I think that’s helpful,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
Gasoline prices, he predicted, are going to “come back down as soon as Iran falls,” he said.
Timothy Cama contributed to this report.
