Republican Infighting Derails GOP Plans To Lower Gas And Diesel Prices Before Election Day

Senate Republicans have failed to agree on a plan to lower gas and diesel prices before the midterms, split over which ideas would work.

Republicans representing oil-refining states blocked farm-state proposals to halt diesel exports and loosen limits on E15, a gasoline blend with more ethanol, while budget hawks opposed suspending the federal gas tax, The Hill reported Thursday. Republican senators doubted any of the proposals would lower prices much before the Nov. 3 election.

Republican senators have blamed voter anger over gas and diesel prices for putting GOP-leaning Senate races in Kansas and Nebraska in play, and polls also show a close race in Iowa, outlet reported in September.

The offices of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

Diesel averaged $6.28 a gallon nationwide Thursday, up from $3.68 a year ago, and regular gasoline averaged $4.36, up from $3.12, according to American Automobile Association (AAA) data.

“Our members have been feeling the pain at the pump for months as diesel prices have climbed. Market stability is essential to bring down costs for the long haul,” an Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association spokesperson said in a statement to the DCNF.

Grassley first pitched a 90-day halt to diesel exports in mid-September, according to The Hill.

“We need to concentrate on affordability for this election,” he told the outlet Sept. 14.

Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer argued that a ban could push diesel prices higher.

“If you restrict access to the global market for our diesel production, you literally disincentivize more diesel production in which case you end up with higher prices, lower supply,” he said, according to The Hill.

The senator warned that a ban “most likely would” raise diesel prices, especially in California and the Northeast, which import diesel, the outlet reported.

“The administration was right to take an export ban off the table because it would compound supply restrictions and prices, along with our geopolitical leverage, would have suffered,” Cramer said in a statement to the DCNF. “The better approach is to build for the long term. We should expand and modernize our domestic refining capacity to refine our own crude.”

“The most immediate focus for Congress and the administration is passing permitting reform so American energy infrastructure can get built without delay,” he added.

“People are right to be concerned with $6 diesel, especially in a country with the resources we have,” Cramer said when asked whether high fuel prices could cost Republicans farm-state Senate seats. “Production and refining disruptions in China, Russia, and the Middle East are unduly impacting prices here because we lack the capacity to refine domestic crude to meet market demand and withstand the upheaval.”

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn called the ban a “gimmick,” and Energy Secretary Chris Wright argued that “banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work,” The Hill reported. Trump ruled out the ban before heading to Ohio to campaign for Republican Sen. Jon Husted, according to the outlet.

Trump has moved on his own, signing an order Monday that temporarily lets truckers use tax-free dyed diesel normally reserved for farm equipment on highways, saying Tuesday he is “thinking about” suspending the federal gas tax.

Thune said in September that suspending the federal fuel tax would be a “short-term” solution that would “create holes” in the Highway Trust Fund and that a diesel export ban made more sense, Colorado Politics reported.

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill to suspend the federal taxes of 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel, but Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and other budget hawks warned it would drain the Highway Trust Fund, according to The Hill.

“We should suspend the federal gas tax. I introduced legislation to do that back in April, so we’re way overdue,” Hawley said in a statement to the DCNF. “I can’t believe Congress has let it go this long. We have got to get these prices down, and Congress should do something about it.”

“We should start by suspending the gas tax, including the tax on diesel. We could take 20-30 cents off the top immediately by doing that,” Hawley added.

A House gas tax holiday bill backed by the House Freedom Caucus also stalled in September, Roll Call reported in September.

“It would bring it down right now, some people think, as much as 30 cents a gallon — do voluntary E15 nationwide,” Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds told The Hill.

Lawmakers from oil-producing states countered that expanding E15 sales would harm smaller refiners, the outlet reported.

“It is almost impossible to federally reduce gasoline prices for consumers because the levers of power that can be used have very little effect on the prices,” Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist and former Senate leadership aide, told The Hill.

Ohio suspended its 38.5-cent-a-gallon state gas tax for 90 days starting Sunday, using state reserve funds to cover the lost revenue, Axios reported.

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