House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’s pressuring Senate Republicans to refrain from changing a deal to increase the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000, pushing back on President Donald Trump’s willingness to scale back the write-off.
“I’ve asked them to modify it as little as possible because I’ve got a very delicate balance there,” Johnson told reporters at the White House on Monday.
“The reality is that we have a very diverse conference,” Johnson added, noting that he has several members who represent high-tax areas in New York, New Jersey and California. “This is a very important thing for their constituents.”
Johnson is seeking to preserve a deal he struck with those members last month to increase the SALT cap to $40,000, up from $10,000 in current law. That plan was critical to passing Trump’s tax bill out of the House last month.
But as the Senate has begun negotiating the legislation, SALT has fallen off the agenda as a priority issue. No Republican senator hails from a state where SALT is a big political issue.
Trump last week told Senate Republicans he is open to a state and local tax deduction cap lower than the $40,000 in the House-passed version of his giant tax bill.
Several House Republicans have threatened to block the legislation if the Senate waters down the SALT write-off, setting up high-stakes negotiations between the two chambers as they look to meet a self-imposed July 4 deadline to pass the bill.
Some Senate Republicans are also pressing to pare the bill’s price tag, while other factions are looking to scale back House-passed changes to Medicaid and phase out some green energy credits more slowly.
“We’re going to get it done by Independence Day,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a great celebration.”
