Latest news with #Lawler
Scientific American
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scientific American
Lawmakers Form First Extreme Heat Caucus, Citing ‘Deadly Risk'
CLIMATEWIRE | An Arizona Democrat and a New York Republican are teaming up to form the Congressional Extreme Heat Caucus in an attempt to find bipartisan solutions for deadly temperatures. 'We hope this caucus can make sure the United States is better prepared for the inevitable increase in temperatures, not just in Arizona and the Southwest but all across the country,' Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton (D) said in an interview. He's creating the caucus with New York Rep. Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican who bucked his party last year by expressing support for the nation's first proposed regulation to protect workers from heat by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. 'Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than any other weather event — over 1,300 lives lost, including 570 in New York alone — and it's a growing threat to the Hudson Valley,' Lawler said in a statement. 'That's why I'm co-chairing the Heat Caucus to drive real solutions, raise awareness, and protect our communities from this deadly risk.' Stanton said he was excited to team up with Lawler, who understands that heat jeopardizes health even in northern climates. 'He is from New York and I'm proud he recognizes how heat is important for workers,' he said. The caucus will be open to House lawmakers who have bipartisan ideas for addressing extreme heat. Noting that many Republicans have slammed OSHA's proposed heat rule, Stanton said the caucus doesn't have to find consensus on every policy, but members should be willing to search for common ground. "It is important to have that conversation on what we can come together and agree on because that's how we get legislation passed in this town, even if we don't agree on how far to go," he said. Lawler and Stanton teamed up earlier this spring to protest workforce reductions at the Department of Health and Human Services that could degrade heat-related programs. In April, the pair wrote a letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., protesting layoffs that purged the entire staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice as well as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps families pay for heating and cooling. 'As we head into another summer — with projections suggesting 2025 will rank again among the warmest years on record, we cannot afford to limit our ability to counter the impacts of extreme heat,' they wrote in April with nine other lawmakers. Among the caucus' priorities is making LIHEAP funding more evenly distributed to southern states to help pay for cooling assistance. The program was initially created to help low-income families pay their heating bills during winter, and the majority of its funding still goes toward cold-weather states. 'We have had too many deaths of people in their homes because they are unable to access programs that would help them access air conditioning,' Stanton said.
Axios
7 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Trump's 5-step push to keep GOP control of the House in '26
President Trump 's team has launched an early and aggressive behind-the-scenes effort to maintain the GOP's tenuous grip on the House in 2026 — and avoid his third impeachment. Why it matters: Trump allies believe — with good reason — that a Democrat-controlled House would launch investigations of the president and move to impeach him. That's exactly what happened after Democrats seized the chamber during Trump's first term. Midterm elections are historically tough for the party occupying the White House, and senior Republicans privately acknowledge that retaining the speaker's gavel won't be easy. The twice-impeached Trump"knows the stakes firsthand. He saw what can happen. It's clear he doesn't want that again," said Matt Gorman, a top official for House Republicans' campaign arm in the 2018 midterms. "Investigations, impeachment — he knows it's all on the table with a Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries." Already, some Democrats have signaled they want to investigate Trump's overhaul of the U.S. government, whether he manipulated markets and fostered insider trading with his tariff announcements, and whether he's helped Elon Musk secure deals for Starlink. Then there's that $400 million jet from Qatar. Democrats and other critics say Trump violated the Constitution by accepting the gift. Zoom in: Here are five steps Trump's taking to try to keep Republican control of the House, where the GOP has an eight-seat majority — including vacancies created this year by the deaths of three Democrats. 1. Trying to prevent retirements The White House is targeting several Republicans in politically divided swing districts and urging them to not ditch their seats or run for higher office. It has sent a clear message to New York Rep. Mike Lawler that Trump wants him to stay in the House rather than run for governor. This month Trump made a point of endorsing Lawler for re-election to his southern New York district, which Kamala Harris won in the presidential election last November. Trump's team also has expressed concern about Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga weighing a run for the Senate. Incumbent lawmakers with established fundraising and campaigning networks are almost always better positioned to win than any challengers. Vacant seats also cost the party big bucks. Trump's allies have been passing around a spreadsheet with cost estimates to compete in the seats of 16 members if they depart. Among the estimated price tags: As much as $14 million for Lawler's seat and $3.7 million for Huizenga's. Trump's team hasn't been totally successful in dissuading ambitious lawmakers from jumping ship. Michigan Rep. John James opted to run for governor. Trump is worried about the GOP's chances of keeping James' seat on the state's eastern shore, according to a person familiar with the president's thinking. The White House also is worried about retaining the central Kentucky seat held by Rep. Andy Barr, who's running for Senate. Trump won Barr's district by 15 points in November, but Democrats hold an edge in registered voters there. 2. Spending big Trump has built a $500 million-plus political apparatus, and he's already unloading some of it with 2026 in mind. Securing American Greatness, a pro-Trump group that works with the White House, has launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting his economic agenda in the districts of eight vulnerable House Republicans. The commercials also are airing in 13 districts where Trump won in November, but House GOP candidates lost. Trump also has a leadership PAC, Never Surrender, planning to give directly to Republican candidates. 3. Taking primary challengers off the table Besides Lawler, Trump has endorsed a slate of swing-district GOP incumbents in a series of moves aimed at shutting down would-be primary challengers before they get off the ground, people close to the president tell Axios. Top Republicans are worried that competitive primaries could drain the party's resources and weaken lawmakers in next year's general election. The endorsements by Trump followed a recent meeting involving the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair Richard Hudson, and Georgia Rep. Brian Jack, a former Trump aide. Trump proposed endorsing vulnerable Republicans early to ward off primary challenges and Johnson agreed, according to a person familiar with the discussion. Corry Bliss, who formerly led a pro-House GOP super PAC, said Trump's popularity among Republican voters is likely to stop many potential primary challengers in their tracks. 4. Raising gobs more money Trump is the GOP's most powerful fundraiser, and he's begun helping the party fill its coffers. He headlined an April dinner benefiting the NRCC that raked in more than $35 million. Trump expects to hold more events for House Republicans ahead of the midterms, according to a person close to the president. 5. Ramping up recruiting Trump's political operation and the NRCC are seeking out candidates in swing-district contests with no incumbents. Their goal is to get the party to coalesce around a Trump-and-GOP-backed candidate to avoid a bloody primary, a Trump ally said.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House votes to increase SALT deduction
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reached a deal with Republican House members from blue states who pushed for an increase in the SALT deduction cap in President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill', allowing it to pass the House. The Big Beautiful Bill that passed the House on Thursday would increase the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) led the charge in the House to get the SALT cap raised. Lawler said taxpayers in his district pay some of the highest property taxes in the country and should be able to deduct those from their federal taxes. Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress capped the amount of state and local taxes (SALT) people could deduct from their federal returns. Most Republicans said the SALT cap would save the government money. The Congressional Research Service estimated eliminating the SALT deduction cap would cost $120 billion next year. 'They're saying, when you live in a big blue state, you pass less federal taxes than Texans,' said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). 'When you have an unlimited deduction for state and local tax, what it does is it basically subsidizes the big, blue states.' Democrats, and blue state Republicans said a low SALT deduction cap essentially forces people to pay double taxes. 'States like New York, New Jersey, Illinois and California are donor states. We regularly send billions of dollars more to the federal government than we get back,' said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the House Minority Leader. President Donald Trump said the blue states are the only ones who want the cap raised. 'This is an issue of double taxation,' Lawler said. 'It's an issue of fairness.' The Congressional Research Service said the largest percentage of people who take the SALT deduction earn more than $199,999. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Rep. Mike Lawler touts $40K SALT deduction cap for New York as House moves to pass Trump's tax package
WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is celebrating an 11th-hour deal for a 400% increase in State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions as part of President Trump's 'one big beautiful bill,' as the measure still faces some opposition from fiscal hawks for final passage in the House. 'For the middle class, this is a real win, especially in a state like New York,' Lawler told The Post in an exclusive interview Wednesday trumpeting the increase from a $10,000 to a $40,000 deduction cap for individual filers, noting how his constituents suffer the highest taxes in the country between property and income rates. That rate would then be projected to increase by 1% over the next decade. An amendment has yet to be filed formally implementing the changes in the House Rules Committee, but House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) has promised the additions — along with changes to Medicaid and green-energy tax credits' spending — will be published before the full vote. The Hudson Valley Republican sat through marathon meetings for weeks with White House officials, House Speaker Mike Johnson's team, GOP members of the chamber's SALT caucus — and Trump himself, who called out Lawler for pressing the SALT issue in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday. 'I know your district better than you do,' the president chided during the House Republican conference meeting, warning the New York pol that the push for a higher-than-$30,000 SALT cap risked upending the Republican agenda — and wouldn't be a determining factor in his 2026 re-election bid. 'His objective was to get the bill passed,' he said of the exchange with Trump, and the two spoke later by phone in private conference calls with congressional and White House aides about the path forward. 5 'For the middle class, this is a real win, especially in a state like New York,' Lawler told The Post in an exclusive interview Wednesday trumpeting an increase from a $10,000 to a $40,000 deduction cap. Getty Images Lawler forged ahead with fellow Empire State Republican Reps. Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino and Elise Stefanik, as well as Reps. Tom Kean (R-NJ) and Young Kim (R-Calif.) among others to get the cap, which will limit deductions for tax filers with incomes higher than $500,000. Both Lawler and Stefanik have hinted at gubernatorial ambitions — and incumbent New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul lashed out at the SALT-y Republicans for having 'caved again' and 'lost the full SALT deduction' that was in place before the passage of Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 'SALT may never have come back — it probably would've stayed at $10,000,' Lawler returned fire when speaking with The Post, pointing to Democrats having held a trifecta in Washington during former President Joe Biden's first two years in office and never increasing the tax deductions. 5 The Hudson Valley Republican sat through marathon meetings for weeks with White House officials, House Speaker Mike Johnson's team, GOP members of the chamber's SALT caucus — and Trump himself. REUTERS 'For Hochul to now say there's nothing to celebrate,' he went on, pointing to the tax cuts preventing the single-largest tax hike on Americans in history. 'They can't even get unity in their own party.' 'They're frauds,' he said of Hochul as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who said Wednesday the 'so-called SALT deal is a humiliating failure for NY House Republicans.' 'Kathy Hochul didn't criticize Chuck Schumer for failing to deliver. We're getting a 400% increase. They should be saying, 'Thank you,'' Lawler said, ripping the Democratic leader in an X post later Wednesday as a 'putz' and calling for his retirement. 'Hochul is the worst governor in America. We have the highest burden,' he added, highlighting her tax hikes on small businesses and $9 per day congestion pricing 'fleecing hardworking New Yorkers' commuting into Manhattan. 5 New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul lashed out at the SALT-y Republicans for having 'caved again' and 'lost the full SALT deduction' that was in place before the passage of Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Gabriella Bass 'While we have good-paying jobs — and we're really grateful for that — it is very expensive,' Orangetown cop Pat Casey, who serves on Rockland County's Police Benevolent Association, told The Post Wednesday. 'We are seeing migration of people moving further north because property taxes are very high in Westchester and Rockland. 'By no means are we millionaires because of the SALT bill,' he added in a swipe at Democrats who have dubbed the tax package a massive cut for the ultra-rich. 'We're the highest tax county,' added Congers volunteer firefighter Michael Graziano, who also serves as a councilman in Clarkstown, 'as a working guy you definitely need it. … A lot of people can't afford the taxes to stay here and that's why we're having such difficulty getting firefighters.' But the projected budgetary effect has also rankled conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus like Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), who is still seeking to balance spending reductions to green-energy tax credits and Medicaid with the overall revenue decrease from tax cuts. 'In the last 24 hours, there was a little SALT deal made, and I don't think it went in the right direction,' Harris told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday, 'but the White House offered a proposal late last night, that I think fulfills the other two parts of what the president talked about, and there's broad agreement in the House Freedom Caucus that if that's included in the package, I think this package is on route to get passed.' But the Freedom Caucus leader said passage was still likely more than a week away — before Trump demanded its members visit the White House to hash out their disagreements with the package. 5 'In the last 24 hours, there was a little SALT deal made, and I don't think it went in the right direction,' Harris told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Aristide Economopoulos The bill, which will be considered under a process known as budget reconciliation and could pass by a simple majority of both chambers of Congress, is expected to hike the national deficit by nearly $4 trillion due largely to the tax cuts but also includes cuts to Medicaid by imposing work requirements and rescissions of renewable energy incentives from former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. 'You're having seven times more money going to the able-bodied than the vulnerable,' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) added of the current Medicaid program Wednesday. 'The fact of the matter is this has massive savings … and it has massive deficits in the first 5 years because we're not addressing the structural reform … including very specifically eliminating the 45% of the subsidies under the 'Green New Scam' that continue.' The reconciliation bill will also spend hundreds of billions of dollars on national defense and border security. 5 Members like Lawler pushed for the savings while also preventing too many cuts to public health care coverage. Getty Images Members like Lawler pushed for the boosted security spending and savings while also preventing too many cuts to public health care coverage. 'We worked to protect critical services like Medicaid … while at the same token making sure that those who were gaming the system,' he said, touting the 'common-sense reforms' that protected the 'most vulnerable' including 'seniors, children, single mothers.' 'Is everything perfect? No, but no legislation is,' he added. 'We're all concerned about the deficit we all want to curb spending but you're not going to fix this in one sitting.' 'At the end of the day, folks are going to have to get a way to 'yes' to get anything done.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Republican goes scorched earth on Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill' in Fox News appearance
New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler hit back at Donald Trump after the president singled him out for criticism during a visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to drum up support for his 'big, beautiful bill.' Lawler and several other GOP members are holding out on the bill, which would slash taxes and increase spending on oil drilling, the military, and immigration. They hope to secure a higher cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction for federal income taxes. 'I know your district better than you do, if you lose because of SALT you were going to lose anyway,' the president reportedly told Lawler during the Republican huddle. Asked about Trump's rebuke during an interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News on Tuesday, the congressman responded: 'Well, respectfully to the president, I've won three times in two-to-one Democratic districts because I know what the issues are impacting my district. 'Here's the truth. I'm one of only three Republicans that have won in a district that Kamala Harris won. So the fact is I know my district very well and there's a reason why I've been successful.' He continued: 'I respect the president. I know how important it is to pass this bill. Allowing the tax cuts to expire would be catastrophic. It would be the single largest tax increase in American history. 'But I'm not going to sacrifice my constituents, and throw them under the bus in a bad faith negotiation, which is what this has been by leadership and Jason Smith.' Not finished there, Lawler continued: 'The fact is that, in a district like mine, it is not the wealthy that I'm talking about. I'm talking about the cop and the teacher who are struggling under the crushing weight of the highest tax burden in America, and in New York. 'We can all agree Kathy Hochul is the worst governor in America. Nobody disputes that. We can all agree New York's cost of living is exorbitant. Nobody disputes that. But I'm not gonna sell out my constituents at the expense of getting a fair tax deal.' Trump's meeting took place behind closed doors. Still, he reportedly warned fiscal conservatives pushing for cuts to the program providing health insurance to low-income Americans, 'Don't f*** around with Medicaid,' warning them against damaging their party's election prospects ahead of next year's midterms. Before heading in, the president had insisted to reporters that Republicans were united behind his bill barring 'one or two grandstanders.' He also warned that taxes would go up for American households if Congress failed to extend the breaks he had introduced during his first term. 'What Republican would vote for that?' he asked, referring to higher taxes. 'Because they wouldn't be a Republican much longer. They would be knocked out so fast.' He went on to single out one of the holdouts, Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, saying he should be 'voted out of office' and that the other remaining objectors should 'possibly' face primary challenges. Due to the narrow nature of the current Republican House majority, Trump can only afford to lose three votes if his bill is to pass the chamber and reach the Senate.
