Scalise: Biden 'Added Six-and-a-Half Billion Dollars in Taxes on Natural Gas' (May 23, 2023)

With President Joe Biden “talking about raising taxes” in the debt ceiling talks, as he put it, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise listed the ones Biden had already signed. “Look at some of the taxes that [President] Biden has already signed into law to raise on hardworking families,” Scalise said at a news conference on May 23, 2023, according to his office [1].

“40 percent more for household electricity rates, and people would ask, ‘Why is that?’ Well, in part, it’s because [President] Biden added six-and-a-half billion dollars in taxes on natural gas. That is a direct tax increase on low- and middle-income families, breaking his pledge that anybody making under 400,000 [dollars] a year wouldn’t pay a dime and new taxes,” Scalise said [1].

“Well, I guess he was right about the dime because it’s a lot more than a dime in new taxes, then, that families are paying,” he said [1].

The video above shows Scalise’s remarks on May 23, 2023. Quotes are from Scalise’s office and the American Presidency Project [1][2][3][4].

”A Lot of Low-Income Families … Have 401 (k)s”

Scalise went down the list. “You know what other tax [President] Biden signed into law that low income families are also paying? 12 billion dollars in crude oil taxes,” he said [1].

“So you wonder, when people go fill up their car, they’re paying 50 percent more in gasoline costs – in part because of [President] Biden’s new tax there,” he said [1].

“1.2 billion dollar coal tax. 74 billion dollar stock tax, which hits 401 (k)s. Now maybe President Biden thinks only the billionaires have 401 (k)s,” Scalise said. “I hate to tell you, Mr. President, there are a lot of low-income families and middle-income families who have 401 (k)s and are relying on that to be part of their nest egg to retire.” [1]

“And where do corporate taxes get paid? By people who buy things,” he said [1].

”I Call It His ‘Red Agenda’”

Scalise also went after Biden’s push for electric cars. “They’re going after all gasoline-powered cars, in exchange for cars that ultimately can contain a lot of components that are made in China. I don’t call it his green agenda, I call it his ‘red agenda’ because the solar panels, a lot of the components of windmills, [electric vehicles] are all made in China,” he said [1].

He pointed to a House vote that week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s vehicle rules. “We actually have a bill this week to reverse the [Environmental Protection Agency]‘s crazy idea of getting rid of heavy-lift cars – your [Ford] F-250 or other pickup trucks,” Scalise said [1].

”Almost 100 Days Off”

The debt ceiling deadline was days away. “President Biden hasn’t taken this seriously. He took almost 100 days off in refusing to negotiate with the Speaker. We didn’t take any time off,” Scalise said [1].

His message to the President was blunt. “Well the message we have for President Biden is, ‘There will be no more taxes. It’s the spending in Washington. That’s the problem,’” Scalise said [1].

“When the country hits the debt ceiling, it’s – in essence – because the credit card in the nation got maxed out. It got maxed out because Washington is spending more money than it takes in,” he said [1].

”Nearly 300 Young People Die”

The news conference was about fentanyl. “This is something that, since [President] Biden opened the southern border, we have seen flood into our country. Every day in America, nearly 300 young people die from fentanyl and other related overdoses. This is a national scandal that can be stopped,” Scalise said [1].

He backed H.R. 467, the Halt Fentanyl Act, and predicted “a very bipartisan vote to permanently schedule this as a Class 1 controlled substance.” [1]

By the Numbers

$6.5 billion: the natural gas tax Scalise cited [1].
$12 billion: crude oil taxes, per Scalise [1].
$74 billion: the tax on stock buybacks Scalise said hits 401(k)s [1].
$225 billion: new corporate taxes, per Scalise [1].
Nearly 300: young people Scalise said die each day from overdoses [1].

What Happened Next

Trump killed the methane charge. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act included a fee on methane from oil and natural gas operations. In February 2025, the Trump White House backed a resolution to kill the Environmental Protection Agency rule that “implements provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that require the EPA to collect an annual Waste Emissions Charge on methane emissions from oil and natural gas facilities,” saying it “imposes significant new costs each year across the oil and natural gas sectors that will increase energy prices.” [2]

On March 14, 2025, Trump signed H.J. Res. 35, which “disapproves an Environmental Protection Agency final rule implementing the Waste Emissions Charge on oil and natural gas facilities,” the White House said [3].

The fentanyl bill became law. On July 16, 2025, “President Donald J. Trump officially signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law — permanently classifying fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act,” the White House said [4].

For the debt ceiling deal that followed, see HYGO News’ page on May 30, 2023.