The White House is backing a plan to expand small-refinery exemptions from about 990 million renewable identification numbers, or RINs, to as many as 1.8 billion, according to people familiar with a Wednesday meeting between President Donald Trump and his energy, environmental and agriculture chiefs. The administration is seeking to contain gasoline prices that have risen during the war with Iran and support Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections. Farm and biofuel groups urged Trump to reject the expansion, warning that exemptions above the volumes assumed by the Environmental Protection Agency for its 2026 and 2027 renewable volume obligations could sharply reduce demand for ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, corn and soybean oil. RIN prices have already fallen as traders anticipate weaker demand. Officials also discussed restoring fuel volumes lost to exemptions in future annual quotas, though the mechanism remains unclear. A decision is expected before the end of August.