Drivers in California react to President Trump’s proposal to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax

(NBC, KYMA) - Drivers in Southern California are reacting to President Donald Trump saying he supports temporarily suspending the federal gas tax.

This would have to be approved by Congress, but it already has some bipartisan support, and this would cut prices by about 18 cents per gallon.

In California, people are paying more than $6 per gallon, so drivers really welcome anything that'll bring the cost down.

"We need it because people need to go to travel, they need to go places and do things to work, to make money, to pay the rent, to pay the bills. And this would help? That would help a lot," said Tony Arrihga, a driver.

"Paychecks are still the same, our paycheck doesn't go up because the gas is high. They still stay the same. We're spending more. Food is expensive. Supermarket is expensive, everything is expensive so they have to bring the gas down," said George Saroj, another driver.

This all comes after President Trump said Monday he wants to suspend the federal gas tax for now.

He said once the war with Iran is over, gas prices will significantly drop, but said until then, he thinks dropping the federal gas tax is a good idea.

Republicans and Democrats have already spoken out in support, but it needs that congressional approval, and if approved, GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan shared when we can expect that tax to go away.

"If the tax suspension became effective say May 25th, motorists would effectively see, on May 25th, a potential major reduction of 18.4 for gasoline, and up to 23.4 cents per gallon for diesel," De Haan explained.

De Haan said if the price of oil goes up, taking away the gas tax may not make much of a difference.