Republican leaders of Congress’ energy and environmental committees are deferring to the White House when it comes to combating rising gasoline prices.
Gas prices are up an average of 27 cents nationally since the U.S. and Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran last weekend. Democrats are seizing on the spike, looking to use it as a talking point in a midterm election year heavily focused on affordability.
But as the White House takes up a defensive position — with POLITICO reporting that energy advisers are scrambling behind the scenes to calm the market — congressional Republicans are mostly downplaying the price increases and punting the issue back to President Donald Trump.
“I think we’ll have to take the president’s lead on that. I think one week is too premature. If gas goes up, hopefully it’ll come back down just as fast,” Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said Thursday. “Right now, I think we’re just going to have to hold steady.”
Trump announced earlier in the week that the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. would provide political risk insurance to oil tankers and cargo ships operating near the Strait of Hormuz, and that the U.S. Navy would soon begin escorting tankers through the strait.
But the White House is also reportedly weighing further action to tamp down gas prices, including tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or declaring a gas tax holiday. Both plans have complications, and the latter would require congressional action.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Thursday that he had not heard from the White House and that his committee does not have plans to act on the issue of gas prices.
Earlier in the week, he called energy and gas prices “secondary and tertiary concerns” when it comes to the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), a member of the ENR Committee, similarly said that the White House was “floating ideas” for limiting gas prices.
“Some people have talked about taking out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I’m not so sure about that. We’ll have to see, because I don’t know if that would materially affect prices,” Hoeven said.
“The biggest thing is, this just demonstrates why we need to keep producing more energy here,” he added, pointing to domestic production.
Similarly, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski dismissed the idea of a gas tax holiday in the near future: “I think it’s premature to do something like that.”
“But I’m sure that you have folks in the administration that are thinking through the implications, because they are very real,” Murkowski said.
Across the Capitol, House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) used a similar tune, arguing that a congressional permitting reform package is needed to ensure energy production continues to increase.
“This just proves that our energy independence is so important and why our domestic fossil industry is so important,” Guthrie said. “Permitting reform and producing more oil and gas is what we need to do. “
Democrats have been quick to highlight rising gas prices nationwide, adding them to the affordability talking points they have used while condemning Trump’s military actions in Iran.
In remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) nodded to reports that the White House was concerned about gas prices.
“Apparently the White House is scrambling to find something positive to say about gas prices to change the narrative of high costs. Here’s an idea: If Donald Trump doesn’t want gas prices to go up, he should not have unilaterally started a war with Iran,” Schumer said.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have both taken to national television to defend administration actions and assure that gas prices will eventually drop.
“I think we’re always concerned about rising gas prices. And obviously what the president has done through his energy policies has made America more energy independent,” Thune said Thursday on Fox News.
“It’s going to be a manageable thing, and we’re going to continue to increase American production of energy so that we drive that gas price down and not make ourselves dependent upon sources of energy from outside of the United States, and particularly places like the Middle East that can be very unstable,” he added.
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on Energy and Natural Resources, suggested Republicans should be more worried: “If they’re not, they’re not listening to their constituents.”
Ben Lefebvre and Andres Picon contributed to this report.
