CT News Junkie · Jamil Ragland · September 4, 2026
HARTFORD, CT — As millions of Americans prepare for one last summer trip this Labor Day weekend, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, is calling on Congress to take immediate steps to recoup record profits from oil companies and return the money to consumers.
Blumenthal on Friday called on Congress to pass the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act , of which he is a cosponsor. The bill would impose a windfall tax on the profits generated by oil companies, who have seen a spike in profits as a result of the conflict between the United States and Iran which has constrained oil supply globally and driven up prices. The windfall tax would then be returned to consumers in the form of a tax credit rebate.
“This holiday weekend, Connecticut consumers are going to be out there, literally on the roads spending 50% more on gasoline than they would have done a year ago,” he said at a media briefing across from the Noble gas station on Capitol Ave. in Hartford, where the price of regular gas was $4.21. A year ago the state average was $3.17 . “And the profits are going to the big oil companies and to the investments of the President and others who own stock in these companies, and that’s just plain wrong. We need to put money back in consumer’s pockets.”
In addition to decrying the profits of big oil companies, Blumenthal and other Democrats have accused President Donald Trump of personally profiting from rising oil prices, publishing a report last month that said Trump may have earned as much as $15.5 million in stock price increases from stock held in companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and others.
As for the long-term prospects of oil prices falling, Blumenthal said that gas prices have historically been “sticky” and slow to come down, but that any decrease in prices would depend on conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed to almost all shipping after an uneasy ceasefire between the United States and Iran expired last month.
“The only way to end the war is through negotiations and diplomacy,” Blumenthal said. “He’s not going to bomb the Iranians into a peace agreement, nor will he succeed in squeezing them economically. So the path really has to be through negotiation, and the president has indicated he isn’t interested in talking.”
Jamil Ragland writes and lives in Hartford. You can read more of his writing at www.nutmeggerdaily.com.
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