Speaker Nancy Pelosi used her leadership meetings this week to sound out her Democratic colleagues on the best way to address record-high gas prices. Some senior Democrats still hope the House can act next week before Easter recess but the path forward remains unclear.
Democratic leadership has been mulling a variety of options – from a gas tax holiday to rebate cards or vouchers – as they try to head off what has the potential to become a huge political liability in the midterms.
Pelosi huddled with her small leadership team on the issue first on Monday. She then brought up gas prices again during a broader steering meeting, reading a memo aloud with a list of potential ideas as she sought feedback from Democrats in the room, according to multiple sources who attended the meeting. We caught up with Pelosi afterwards but it sounds like Democrats are still far from definitive action.
Democrats are well aware this could become a steep political liability later this year, with Pelosi, President Joe Biden and others already trying to brand the skyrocketing prices as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fault due to the invasion of Ukraine. Pelosi has called it “Putin’s gas hike,” Biden went with the more alliterative “Putin’s price hike.”
It’s clear the issue is front and center for voters. Respondents in a pair of polls in recent days ranked gas prices and record inflation as their top concerns. Republicans have repeatedly dismissed Democrats’ efforts to address gas prices as “gimmicks.”