House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans are discussing raising the state and local tax deduction cap to $30,000 — among other options — as the party seeks to resolve disagreements on the details of President Donald Trump’s tax package.
“I’ve heard that number, and I’ve heard others as well,” Johnson told reporters on Thursday.
“It’s still an ongoing discussion amongst the members, and I think we’ll find the right point,” he added. “I’m not going to handicap it because I’m not sure exactly what that is, but there’s a lot of analysis that’s going into it.”
Republicans are seeking a deal between members from New York, New Jersey and California — who had threatened to block the bill without a sufficient increase to the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions — and House leaders who are navigating the political realities of pushing an expensive tax bill through their narrow majority.
One lawmaker, New York’s Nick LaLota, immediately dismissed the $30,000 cap, saying that would not pass the House.
“I feel like I’m buying a used car and the dealer won’t name the price,” he said.
Tax committee lawmakers said they’re trying to come to a decision on the SALT deduction later Thursday.
Other members — New York’s Mike Lawler and Andrew Garbarino, New Jersey’s Tom Kean and Young Kim of California — have threatened to reject any tax package that does not raise the SALT cap sufficiently. Those members have been reticent to publicly say how high the deduction cap needs to be to earn their votes.
The SALT issue has been one of the most contentious for the House GOP to resolve as party leaders try to ram a multitrillion-dollar tax cut package through the House in May. The larger the cap adjustment is, the less money there will be for other tax cuts on the Republican agenda.
The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to consider that tax portion of the bill on Tuesday, an implicit deadline for lawmakers to come to an agreement on SALT.
Republicans are also sparring over spending reductions in the bill, including weighing cuts to Medicaid health coverage and nutritional programs for low-income households.
Conservative Ralph Norman said that if moderates get a $30,000 SALT cap, then they need to agree to even deeper spending cuts such as to Medicaid.
