logo
SALT Republicans, leadership ‘still have some work to do' after key meeting

SALT Republicans, leadership ‘still have some work to do' after key meeting

Yahoo01-05-2025

House Republicans in favor of increasing the deduction cap on state and local taxes (SALT) said they 'still have some work to do' after the group huddled with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for a key meeting on the contentious issue Wednesday afternoon.
The gathering — which marked the first major conversation about SALT relief since the budget reconciliation process entered its final stage in the House — comes as GOP leadership is eyeing a meeting next week to advance the Ways and Means Committee's portion of the bill, a plan that could be delayed amid the hang-ups over SALT.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), one of the most prominent members pushing for SALT relief, said the group discussed 'specific numbers' at the gathering, but noted that he 'wouldn't consider anything an offer.' A source told The Hill that 'no official numbers' or 'offers' were presented, but the group discussed 'the policy needs and the political needs' for a higher SALT deduction cap.
'I think we need some more dialogue,' LaLota said.
While no number was agreed to, Republicans gave a look into what would be unacceptable for them. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said increasing the SALT deduction cap to $25,000 'is not gonna cut it.'
Leaving the meeting, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said they had 'not yet' settled on a new number for the deduction cap, but that he 'heard some very valuable input from members of the SALT states and completely understand their priorities.'
'We're trying to work that in and find consensus on the right number, which we will,' he added.
Despite the optimistic tone, there was some frustration at the meeting. LaLota said there was 'intense fellowship' during the gathering, pointing to the 'different personalities, different priorities' within the House GOP conference.
Two sources told The Hill that there was particular frustration with Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), a SALT relief proponent who sits on the Ways and Means Committee. One of the sources said Tenney was 'trying to put [SALT caucus members] in check a little bit' and 'telling them to be realistic.'
'Claudia was being as unproductive as you could be,' the second source said.
The Hill reached out to Tenney's office for comment.
A number of members pushing for SALT relief were at the meeting, including LaLota, Tenney, Malliotakis, and Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.). Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was also present. The group met with Johnson and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.).
The lawmakers convened as leadership is looking to hold a meeting to finalize and advance the Ways and Means Committee's portion bill full of President Trump's legislative priorities next week. On Tuesday, Johnson said he wants the remaining markups to be held next week as he looks to get the entire package cleared in the House by Memorial Day.
That plan, however, is in question as members remain at odds over SALT relief. Malliotakis said holding a markup next week would be 'tight,' given the amount of progress made, but it 'could possibly' happen.
'We have, obviously, a goal, and hopefully we're gonna get there before next week,' she added. 'But it's up to the Speaker, it's up to the chairman, it's above my pay grade.'
After the meeting, Johnson said it is his 'expectation' that the markup will take place next week.
Malliotakis said she plans to brief the Ways and Means Committee on the group's Wednesday afternoon conversation on Thursday and 'see what the other members of the committee say.'
As Republicans from high-tax blue states push for SALT relief, GOP deficit hawks are voicing opposition to an increase in the cap, raising concerns about how such a policy would impact their goal of making the final Trump agenda bill deficit neutral.
'Maybe it's just because I don't want to subsidize high-tax, blue-state jurisdictions,' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said when asked why he is opposed to increasing the cap. 'Maybe it's because I can do math… If you lift the cap to $100,000 that'll be how much? Over a trillion dollars. So the same folks are gonna say well, we gotta make sure we extend the tax cuts and make them permanent, but we can't touch Medicaid, but we need to lift our SALT cap. And I'm like okay, come in there and show me the arithmetic on the board.'
Johnson and Smith will have to weigh those opposing stances and find a path forward as they look to get the package over the finish line, which will require near unanimity in the House GOP conference amid their razor-thin majority.
The debate over SALT relief has been ongoing since 2017, when Trump's tax package, portions of which expire this year, placed a $10,000 deduction cap on SALT. Since then, Republicans and Democrats who represent high-tax blue states have been pushing to increase the cap, introducing legislation that would raise it thousands of dollars.
Lawler, for example, introduced a bill in January that would increase the SALT deduction cap to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples who file jointly. LaLota, meanwhile, has a bill that would hike the cap to $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for married people filing together.
If the SALT cap is not extended, taxpayers would have the ability to deduct all eligible state and local income, revenue from sales, property taxes and foreign income taxes. According to a February 2024 brief from Penn Wharton, such an outcome would cost an additional $1.2 trillion.
As the plan for a markup next week looms, SALT caucus Republicans are recognizing the tenuous nature of the budget reconciliation negotiations, but are holding out hope that their priorities will be reflected in the final bill.
'People have described the Ways and Means job to be much like a Rubik's cube or a game of Whack-a-Mole. When you solve one issue, another one comes up. So there's a lot for them to deliberate over,' LaLota said. 'I appreciate the hard work that they're gonna have to do to figure out all the different variables in the tax code. SALT, of course, is the most important one to me.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli to face off in race for New Jersey governor
Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli to face off in race for New Jersey governor

Washington Post

time36 minutes ago

  • Washington Post

Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli to face off in race for New Jersey governor

TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who had President Donald Trump's endorsement, won their primary elections in New Jersey's race for governor, setting the stage for a November election, poised to be fought in part over affordability and the president's policies. Sherrill emerged from a crowded field of five experienced rivals on the strength of her biography as a Navy pilot and former prosecutor who has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump.

Takeaways from New Jersey election: Trump looms large and signs of Democratic enthusiasm
Takeaways from New Jersey election: Trump looms large and signs of Democratic enthusiasm

Washington Post

time37 minutes ago

  • Washington Post

Takeaways from New Jersey election: Trump looms large and signs of Democratic enthusiasm

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. — New Jersey primary voters chose their nominees — and President Donald Trump notched a win in his endorsement belt — in one of two high-stakes governor's races being held this year. While officials from both parties say November's general election will hinge on local, pocketbook issues, the outcome will also be closely watched as a harbinger of how both parties might fare in next year's midterm elections, and as a test of both Democratic enthusiasm and how the GOP fares without Trump on the ballot. Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's primary results: 2025's off-year elections have been rough for Republicans and Trump. The president went all in on Wisconsin's state Supreme Court race this spring, backing conservative Brad Schimel, even as polls showed Schimel lagging his Democratic-backed rival. Schimel went on to lose by a whopping 10 points , even after billionaire Elon Musk and groups he backed poured $21 million into the race. This time, Trump's chosen candidate, Republican front-runner Jack Ciattarelli, easily won the nomination. 'Jack Ciattarelli is a WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,' Trump wrote in a social media post announcing his endorsement last month. 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, ELECT JACK CIATTARELLI!' After losing in 2021 to term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy by the slimmest of margins, Ciattarelli is hoping his third try for the office will be the charm. The endorsement was a blow, in particular, to Ciattarelli rival Bill Spadea, a conservative radio host who ran by vowing to enthusiastically back the president's agenda. Ciattarelli, he complained in one ad, 'did more than disagree with the president. He disrespected him. Me? I've been a supporter of President Trump since he came down the escalator.' He said voters should feel free to flout Trump's advice: 'I've disagreed with him in the past. It's ok for you to disagree with him now.' Trump, who spends many summer weekends in the state at his Bedminister golf club, alluded to the name dropping during a tele-rally he held on Ciattarelli's behalf . 'Other people are going around saying I endorsed them. That's not true,' he said. Candidates on both sides of the aisle vowed to tackle pocketbook issues, from high property taxes to grocery prices, to housing and health care costs. But Trump loomed large. On the GOP side, most of the candidates professed their allegiances to the president. Ciattarelli said in ads that he would work with Trump and end New Jersey's status as a sanctuary state 'on Day One.' (Currently, the state's attorney general has directed local law enforcement not to assist federal agents in civil immigration matters.) He also pledged to direct his attorney general to end lawsuits filed against the Trump administration, including one challenging Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship . Democrats featured him heavily, too. In one ad, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill — who won the Democratic primary Tuesday and will take on Ciattarelli in November — featured an armada of pickup trucks waving giant Trump flags and warned that, 'Trump's coming for New Jersey with Trump-endorsed Republican Jack Ciattarelli.' 'We've gotta stop them,' it said. In another, she tells viewers, 'I know the world feels like it is on fire right now,' and vows to 'stand up to Trump and Musk with all I've got.' Back in 2015, Ciattarelli labeled then-candidate Trump a 'charlatan' who was unfit for the office of the presidency and an embarrassment to the nation. 'Instead of providing the kind of leadership that appeals to the better angels of our nature in calling us to meaningful and just action, Mr. Trump preys upon our worst instincts and fears,' he wrote. When Ciattarelli ran in 2021, he distanced himself from Trump, without the outward insults. Trump nonetheless complained about the treatment on Spadea's radio show last year, saying Ciattarelli 'made some very big mistakes' and would have won had he sought Trump's support. But like Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and so many others, past insults gave way to alliance. Trump offered his enthusiastic backing in a tele-rally, and in his endorsement, said that, 'after getting to know and understand MAGA,' Ciattarelli 'has gone ALL IN, and is now 100% (PLUS!).' November's presidential election offered warning signs for Democrats in the state. While Trump lost to Democrat Kamala Harris, he did so by only 6 points — a significantly smaller margin than in 2020, when President Joe Biden won by 16 points. 'New Jersey's ready to pop out of that blue horror show,' Trump said in the tele-rally held for Ciattarelli last week. Trump also made stunning gains in several longtime Democratic strongholds, including New Jersey's heavily Latino Passaic County. He carried the city of Passaic and significantly increased his support in Paterson, which is majority Latino and also has a large Muslim community. Indeed, 43% of Latino voters in the state supported Trump, up from 28% in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. November's election will serve as a crucial test for Democrats and whether they can regain Latino support — both in the state and nationally. In the primary, strategists, unions, organizers and candidates pivoted away from immigration and focused on pocketbook concerns in their appeals. 'At the end of the day, if you're worried about paying your bills and being safe at night, everything else is secondary,' Rep. Josh Gottheimer , one of the Democratic candidates, told the AP. 'I think that is front and center in the Latino community.' One exception was Newark Mayor Ras Baraka , who was arrested while trying to join an oversight tour of a 1,000-bed immigrant detention center. A trespass charge was later dropped, but he sued interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba over the dropped prosecution. In one of his final campaign ads in Spanish, he used footage from the arrest to cast himself as a reluctant warrior, with text saying he is 'El Único,' Spanish for 'the only one,' who confronts Trump. Sherrill emerged from a crowded field that included two members of Congress, Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop , teacher's union president and former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney . Sherrill leaned heavily on her biography as a former Navy helicopter pilot, federal prosecutor and a mother of four, using images of herself in uniform in her ads. Her campaign logo features a mini helicopter. Democrats hope November's general election — along with a gubernatorial election in Virginia — will draw a swell of angry voters eager to show their disdain for Trump's sweeping second-term agenda, foreshadowing Democratic gains in next year's midterms. There were signs of strong Democratic enthusiasm in early voting numbers. As of the last day of early in-person voting Sunday, more than 330,000 Democratic ballots had been cast, well outpacing the number of votes cast prior to last year's Democratic presidential primary. That compares to just 130,000 ballots cast by Republicans during the same time — a number that also tops early votes cast in last year's Republican presidential primary and reflects the broader trend of Democrats being far more likely to vote early than Republicans, who tend to turn out in far greater numbers on Election Day.

Nathan Boyles easily secures District 3 state House seat with win over Democrat Dondre Wise
Nathan Boyles easily secures District 3 state House seat with win over Democrat Dondre Wise

Yahoo

time38 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Nathan Boyles easily secures District 3 state House seat with win over Democrat Dondre Wise

The rough and tumble April 1 Republican primary turned out to be the biggest obstacle Holt resident Nathan Boyles would face on his way to securing the District 3 seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Neither Democratic opponent Dondre Wise nor a healthy dose of voter indifference could prevent Boyles from securing election to the office in a June 10 special election. In an unofficial tally with all precincts counted but some mail in votes still outstanding in Santa Rosa County, Boyles had received 8,175 votes to 4,013 for Wise. The district is composed of all of Santa Rosa County except the southwestern edge, which includes Gulf Breeze and Navarre Beach. District 3 also extends into North Okaloosa to encompass rural areas north of the county seat of Crestview. In a break down by county, Boyles received 6,756 (66%) votes to 3,438 (34%) in Santa Rosa County and 1,419 (71%) votes to 575 (29%) in Okaloosa County. Boyles accepted the victory with humility. "Obviously it's overwhelming to see the report we received. Having served as an elected official you know you can't take that kind of support for granted," he said. The dismal final unofficial accounting showed that of the 118,401 registered Santa Rosa County voters just 10,199 or 8.6% cast ballots this cycle, while in Okaloosa County, where 22,449 voters were eligible, 1,997, or 8.9%, voted. Boyles attributed the low turnout to voter fatigue created by a special election held in the immediate wake of a hectic 2024 election cycle. "I'll take every vote we got," he said. Due to the late date of the special election vote Boyles did not get to participate in the bulk of the 2025 Legislative session. He will, however, be sworn in on June 16 and have the opportunity to vote in the overtime period of the session when the state House and state Senate come to agreement on a balanced state budget, probably some time next week. Boyles is an Okaloosa County resident who served three terms as a county commissioner. In District 3 he will represent a constituency made up primarily of Santa Rosa County residents. Though a sizeable segment of the Santa Rosa population argued early on that a county resident should hold the seat, Boyles has insisted all along the election was not about Okaloosa or Santa Rosa counties, but about finding someone suitable to represent District 3 in Tallahassee. The state representative elect has been preparing for his role in Tallahassee since emerging victorious April 1 over a slate of seven GOP candidates, all of whom competed in the primary knowing the winner would be a heavy favorite to replace Joel Rudman in the super conservative district. Boyles spent time in Tallahassee during the 2025 legislative session familiarizing himself with lawmakers and the legislative process and has stopped in to address the Santa Rosa County Commission as well as the governing bodies of the city of Milton and town of Jay. "It's been exciting to go over there and see the process and the people who make it run," he said. "It helps to understand the rules. I've enjoyed the opportunity of a running head start and hopefully I'll be educated and be the best representative of the district I can be." Boyles burst upon the Santa Rosa County scene in 2020 when his upstart Adams Sanitation business began luring customers in the north end of the county away from established WastePro which, as the only service provider, had decreased weekly pickups to one time a week while at the same time raising fees. After a protracted legal squabble, Adams Sanitation emerged victorious from litigation with both WastePro and the county itself. It now services thousands of customers county wide and employs 75 Santa Rosa County residents. The familiarity Boyles has gained in Santa Rosa showed in the Republican primary where Jay mayor Shon Owens, the popular choice among Santa Rosa County leadership, only outpolled him by 441 votes. In contrast, Boyles captured 1,399 more Okaloosa County votes than Owens, who ultimately finished 949 votes behind the winner. Boyles relied on his experience as a county commissioner to campaign for the District 3 seat. He spoke of his "significant experience in prioritizing infrastructure while keeping taxes low" and touched on key Okaloosa County achievements Santa Rosa residents could relate to. Those included paving dirt roads, improving rural broadband, preserving contaminant free drinking water, providing adequate stormwater treatment, protecting the environment and offering modern sewage treatment and disposal. Wise, who fielded no opposition on the Democratic side of the special election ticket, had moved just last month from Pensacola to Navarre. He has said that he knew he was facing an uphill battle in the heavily Republican District 3, but he was hopeful he'd been able to demonstrate through his campaign the importance of the election process. "I most wanted to make people aware of the election process and advocate for voter registration. I want real change and I believe this community does too," he said. "Regardless of the election outcome, I think people are starting to understand." The special election, which Gov. Ron DeSantis waited until Jan. 21 to schedule, was necessitated when Rudman resigned his seat to run for the Florida First Congressional District seat which was left empty after the November 2024 resignation of former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. Rudman lost the congressional race to former Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Nathan Boyles wins Florida House District 3 special election

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store