President gets unilateral power to suspend gas tax during emergencies
H.R. 10668 — EASE Act · Filed by Russell Fry (R-SC) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Oct 1, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes the President to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax (18.4 cents per gallon) for up to 60 days during a declared national emergency involving fuel supply disruption or price spikes, extendable to 120 days. The bill compensates the Highway Trust Fund and Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund for lost tax revenue by transferring general-fund money, ensuring road and environmental programs are not defunded. The authority expires December 31, 2028.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a temporary, conditional tax suspension tied to presidential emergency declaration. It is not a permanent tax cut or deregulation, but a narrowly scoped executive power grant with built-in sunset and revenue replacement.
What the text implies
- Presidential emergency declaration is self-judging and not subject to congressional veto before suspension takes effect; Congress receives notice only after the fact or during extension consideration.
- Definition of 'national emergency' is broad ('substantial disruption' or 'substantial increase in price') and does not require statutory emergency declaration under the National Emergencies Act, potentially allowing unilateral executive action.
- General-fund transfer mechanism means gas-tax relief is funded by all taxpayers, not just fuel users, shifting the incidence of the cost.
- Sunset on December 31, 2028 is fixed and does not depend on emergency conditions; if an emergency extends beyond that date, the suspension authority terminates regardless.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Consumers gain immediate, temporary relief at the pump during fuel emergencies (a concrete benefit), but the bill grants the President unilateral power to declare emergencies with minimal congressional oversight, creating accountability risk. The general-fund transfer preserves infrastructure funding but shifts the cost burden to all taxpayers rather than fuel users.
Who stands to gain
- consumers (temporary reduction in fuel costs)
- transportation and logistics sectors (lower fuel input costs during suspension)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code Section 4081, Highway Trust Fund, Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, U.S. President, Congress, U.S. Treasury
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Oct 1, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 1, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,441 characters) on Oct 6, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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