Biden Calls Gas Tax Holiday a ‘Big Help.’ Obama Called It a ‘Gimmick.’

President Joe Biden has called on Congress to hit the brakes and provide "big help" to Americans through a federal gas tax holiday for the next three months. But some Democrats, including former president Barack Obama, have expressed the move is merely grasping for an advantage in an election year.

On the campaign trail in 2008, Obama said of the tax suspension, "We're arguing over a gimmick that would save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say they did something. Well, let me tell you, this isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's designed to get them through an election."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) in April said gas tax holidays are "good PR," but shared the concern that there is "no guarantee that the reduction in the federal tax would be passed on to the consumer."

Rep. Peter DeFazio, (D., Ore.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, agreed.