President-elect Donald Trump reportedly told House Republicans from New York, New Jersey, and California to negotiate a "fair number" for the state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
House SALT Caucus members, who have threatened to hold back support for Trump's agenda if the SALT deduction cap isn't raised, met with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.
"The president certainly wants to increase the deduction for SALT to provide more relief, because he knows that our mayors and governors are crushing taxpayers," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said after the meeting, Politico reported.
"He wants us to work on what would be a fair number."
Republicans put a $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction during Trump's first term to help cover the cost of the broader 2017 tax law they passed along party lines.
However, the change upset lawmakers from both parties in high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey, The New York Times reported.
"Our constituents are burdened by the SALT cap, and President Trump committed to addressing this issue for our districts," SALT Caucus Co-Chairs Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Young Kim, R-Calif., said in a joint statement following the meeting with Trump.
"We had a productive meeting tonight and will keep fighting to resolve this critical issue so our constituents can keep more of their hard-earned money."
Many Republicans from low-tax red states hate the deduction as they look to cut spending. House GOP leaders have told some colleagues they can't properly plan for the final tax package until SALT has been determined, Politico reported.
After the meeting with Trump, several lawmakers expressed optimism that Republicans would find an agreeable number for SALT.
"I think it's great because the president can take this back and continue negotiations with our side, with the Senate side, and figure out what we can get done," Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., said.
"[Trump] said, look, come back with a number," added Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y. "This is all negotiation to build consensus, so that's obviously what our job is as members of Congress, and that's what we're going to do."
Malliotakis suggested potentially limiting the property tax part of the deduction to bring the cost of the tax relief down.
"What is the most relief we can get for our constituents that would be palatable to the other members of our conference so that we can get to the 218?" Malliotakis said. "If we're focusing on the middle class and ensuring that they're the ones getting the relief, then we can come up with a number that would be fair."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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