Gas prices create political strain for Biden

How much control do presidents have over the cost of a fill-up?

Gas prices.
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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With prices at the pump skyrocketing, the Biden administration this week announced the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, said Lauren Egan and Shannon Pettypiece in NBCNews.com. Since its establishment in the 1970s, "only three presidents have directed the sale of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve." While the release will not have dramatic immediate effects, it signals to foreign producers that the U.S. is serious about forcing down oil prices. The surging cost of gas has set off "political alarm bells within the White House," said Ari Natter and Jennifer Epstein in Bloomberg. "Presidents have little control over what consumers pay at the pump," but gas prices are often seen "as the most visible form of inflation."

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