House Republicans who are part of the so-called "SALT caucus" could notch a political victory over their Senate GOP colleagues as negotiations over the "big, beautiful bill" reach the home stretch, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.
The caucus, comprised of GOP representatives in high-tax states, pushed hard to quadruple the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions in the House bill to $40,000, and it doesn't appear as if Senate Republicans, who wanted to negotiate down that cap, will be able to do so.
That's because SALT Republicans have shown they are willing to stand firm and withhold votes for the entirety of the megabill unless they get a major increase to the SALT cap. House Speaker Mike Johnson, with a razor-thin majority, can't afford to lose any Republican votes.
"I really doubt it will be adjusted much if they want this bill to become law," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, D-N.Y., told the Washington Examiner. "The reality is, we had a good-faith negotiation. It was a lot of thought and deliberation that came to this number. This is what garnered 218 votes [in the House]."
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who has been acting as a negotiator with the House SALT caucus, agreed, telling the Examiner that the SALT cap will apparently remain at $40,000, although he said there would be a lower income threshold.
The House version of the bill phases down the cap for incomes above $500,000. If the threshold is significantly lowered, increasing the cap to $40,000 would be less meaningful because fewer families would be able to benefit from it.
"No side is going to be happy, but it's something that we've got to put a number in," Mullin told Axios. "We want to get it where it's palatable for both sides, but neither side is going to love it."
However, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who has been among the most firm on not compromising from the House's SALT agreement, said "the bottom line here is the deal that we negotiated in the House, with the House leadership, with the White House — that's the deal... if the deal changes and it's not what we supported, I'll be a 'no.'"
Others in the SALT caucus have been equally adamant in their refusal for further compromise.
Most in the Senate GOP conference don't want the cap raised at all, arguing that SALT deductions mainly benefit high income earners in blue states, and subsidize spending by state and local governments headed by Democrats, according to the Washington Examiner.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.