Hassett faces pressure on gas prices, Spirit Airlines collapse, economy fears

Kevin Hassett walked into a Sunday interview with gas prices surging, an airline collapse fresh in the headlines and inflation fears creeping back into the economic conversation. The White House National Economic Council director appeared on Face the Nation on May 3 alongside Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, in a program CBS framed around the sharp jump in fuel costs and the shutdown of Spirit Airlines.

The setting mattered because the pressure points were already visible in the numbers. CBS said Brent crude briefly topped $126 a barrel as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz rattled markets, and one CBS explainer put the U.S. average gas price at $4.02 a gallon, warning it could take months to ease even if the strait reopened. That is the kind of price move that quickly turns macroeconomic debate into a household problem, especially for drivers facing higher fuel bills, pricier deliveries and broader cost pass-throughs across the economy.

Spirit Airlines made the stakes more concrete. CBS reported on April 29 that the carrier had enough cash for only a matter of days and that bailout talks had stalled. By May 2, Reuters reported Spirit had ceased operations after failing to secure a rescue, calling it the industry’s first casualty tied to the Iran war. Reports also said Spirit had sought a $500 million lifeline from the Trump administration. For travelers, the collapse was not just a corporate failure but a warning about how quickly higher fuel costs and tight financing can hit fares, routes and competition.

Hassett’s appearance also landed in the middle of a widening tariff fight that now sits squarely inside the cost-of-living debate. The Budget Lab at Yale estimated that the 2025 tariffs had generated an extra $214.7 billion in inflation-adjusted customs revenue above the 2022 to 2024 average as of February 2026. It also said the effective tariff rate reached 10.6% in January 2026 and that imported core goods prices and durable goods prices both rose 1.5% during 2025 through January. Those figures undercut any claim that tariffs are a costless source of leverage; they show how trade barriers can feed directly into prices households pay.

The interview also highlighted a political tension inside Hassett’s own record. In September 2025, he said the Federal Reserve should remain fully independent of political influence, even as the White House continued to defend tariffs as both a revenue source and a negotiating tool. With Kashkari warning that a prolonged Iran war could raise inflation and damage the economy, Hassett’s task was less about selling optimism than explaining how the administration planned to contain the real-world effects now hitting gasoline pumps, airline networks and family budgets.