WASHINGTON — A House Freedom Caucus push for a vote on legislation to suspend federal motor fuel taxes amid war-driven pain at the pump was thwarted Tuesday after a group of rebels briefly held up floor action on other matters to press their demands.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., and other holdouts on the rule for debate on several bills, including White House-backed Russia sanctions legislation, ultimately didn’t get more than a vague promise to consider voting on Harris’ bill.

And late Tuesday, it became clear that House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., opposed bringing the measure to the floor, according to Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., a Harris ally and co-sponsor of the gas tax holiday bill

“Establishment elitist Sam Graves … just killed the Freedom Caucus bill that would have canceled the federal fuel tax for 3 months. Our intention was to bring the bill to the House floor tomorrow night. Man wants his taxes,” Higgins wrote on X Tuesday night. “And he was rude about it. Unbelievable. The swamp is fighting hard to come back.”

Graves’ staff didn’t have an immediate comment.

But with a packed floor schedule on Wednesday and GOP leaders’ decision to cancel votes on Thursday, it appeared the window had closed for a pre-election vote on Harris’ bill.

Harris himself later confirmed leadership’s decision not to put his bill on the floor.

“Republican swamp creatures are obviously tone deaf to Americans’ concerns over fuel costs. They refuse to even let the House have a vote to temporarily suspend the federal fuel tax during this time of conflict,” Harris posted on X Tuesday night. “Good luck in November. There really is a uniparty . . . “

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday said leadership ultimately decided against a vote after it became clear there wasn’t agreement on the measure within the GOP conference.

“We had a big cross-section of members that had a lot of thoughtful discussion about that, and they just concluded that there were about 10 different ideas on what to do,” Johnson told reporters. “We are working every day to bring down the price of gas obviously, it’s a big thing, but there wasn’t consensus on which decision to make.”

Lost leverage

The unrelated rule for floor debate ultimately squeaked through on Tuesday despite “no” votes from Harris and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. Harris and his backers lost whatever leverage they might have had to secure a vote when Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Jared Golden of Maine crossed the aisle to support the rule, giving it the margin needed for adoption, 214-211.

Harris and his colleagues wanted a vote on the measure before adjourning to campaign for the elections to try to demonstrate to voters that the GOP majority was acting to alleviate high consumer prices.

“Families and truckers need some immediate relief from the high cost of fuel to drive to work or haul goods across this country,” Harris said in a press release. “It’s time right now to temporarily suspend the federal gas and diesel tax until the end of the year. Hardworking American taxpayers deserve that break.”

Fuel prices have risen sharply this year since the start of the Iran war. On Wednesday morning, the national average for a gallon of regular was $4.36, according to auto club AAA. That number is up from about $2.98 before the war began in late February.

Diesel prices, which affect everything from trucking to food costs, on average hit their highest on record Wednesday at $6.31 per gallon, according to AAA, up from about $3.76 in late February.

The federal motor fuels taxes are 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. Suspending the tax is not nearly enough to compensate for the overall increase, but as constituents continue to bear the brunt of rising costs, Harris becomes the latest member to make such a proposal after four similar bills earlier this year.

Despite his desire to see a gas tax bill vote, Higgins backed the rule Tuesday — a move he explained in a video posted to Facebook on Monday night after a meeting of the Freedom Caucus.

“Coming into this week, I was opposed to everything, including — we were locking the rule,” Higgins said. But, he explained he would support the measure because he’d learned President Donald Trump “really needed” the sanctions bill to pass.

“So I’m considering supporting the whole package because that bill the president needs is included in there,” Higgins said Monday. He ultimately voted in favor of the rule.

Trust fund revenue

Whether the bill could be taken up in November when the House returns remains to be seen, but similar measures released this year have seemingly all stalled out.

The motor fuel taxes may prop up prices at the pump. But they also support the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure through the Highway Trust Fund, meaning a suspension could have ripple effects for projects around the country that Congress would need to find ways to address.

Industry representatives have expressed hesitation around the notion of a gas tax holiday, saying the tax is an “important tool” for highway funding.

“As Congress considers changes to the federal gas tax, it is important to recognize that the tax remains a vital source of revenue for the Highway Trust Fund and an important tool for investing in our nation’s roads and bridges,” Nile Elam, vice president of government affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association, said in a Wednesday statement.

He added that the tax had not been raised in “more than three decades” and is no longer generating sufficient revenue. Rather than suspend the taxes, Elam advocated for building upon them with measures like the electric and hybrid vehicle fees included in the House surface transportation bill, calling preservation of funding for the nation’s highways “critical.”

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