With the national average above $4.50 a gallon, a full gas-tax suspension saves a driver roughly $2.70 on a 15-gallon fill-up. That's the price of a candy bar, not meaningful relief. The real play here isn't at the pump — it's optics heading into a tough political stretch. What gets buried: the federal gas tax funds the Highway Trust Fund, so pausing it doesn't eliminate the cost, it shifts it onto the deficit or future infrastructure shortfalls. Congress appropriates that revenue; the executive branch floating a unilateral pause is a test of how much fiscal authority the White House can claim without a floor vote.