Republicans Dealing With Key Hold Ups in Megabill

Congressional Republicans remain at an impasse amid a couple of sticking points in their quest to pass their reconciliation bill, consisting of major items to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“There’s still some minutia that needs to be worked out, but we’re going to have, I think, the SALT and the Medicaid, [the] two parts [that] are the most debatable,” Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) told reporters on Thursday. “But I think we’re getting close, and I think it’s really encouraging.”

SALT stands for state and local taxes. The SALT deduction allows taxpayers who itemize on their federal tax return to deduct from their federal taxes state and local taxes they paid. The current SALT deduction of $10,000 per household is set to expire after this year.

Different factions of the House GOP—including those who want the SALT deduction to increase and Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus that want deep spending cuts—met in the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) before speaking to reporters, trying to hash out their differences and come to a consensus on a bill.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) said that the plan for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which gives out food stamps to those in need, also needs to be finalized.

“All those things right now are unsolved for variables that need to be fixed soon, but SALT is the top priority,” LaLota said.

“None of us are going to support that as it currently stands,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said, referring to the $30,000 SALT deduction cap that is in the bill, which has passed key committees, including the Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce committees.

One proposal on the table is raising the SALT deduction threshold from the current $10,000 per household ($5,000 jointly) cap to $62,124 per household, which would take effect in the 2025 tax year, according to LaLota.

“We’re eager to hear what the counter is,” he told reporters.

GOP members of Florida’s congressional delegation called for reforming Medicaid.

“There’s people who want to see reforms,” and there are people who want it expanded, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) said.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said, “We have to be very mindful of how the trajectory of Medicaid is.”

Donalds went on to say that the bill would put Florida on the path to expanding Medicaid. Florida has declined to expand the entitlement program.

“We don’t want to be punished for being good stewards,” said Cammack. “So we have some options on the table.”

“In Medicaid in particular, we have two populations: able-bodied adults, and then kids, single, single parents, the elderly,” said Donalds. “And we treat them very, very differently. It’s not just one simple program.”

The House Budget Committee is scheduled to vote on the reconciliation bill on May 15. Republicans cannot afford to lose the votes of more than four of their own members.

Johnson told reporters that the Budget Committee meeting will proceed as scheduled.

“I’m talking to everybody, and I think we’re going to get this thing done on the schedule that we proposed,” he said.

Johnson aims for the House to pass the bill by Memorial Day weekend.

One Budget Committee member, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), said he will vote no as the bill currently stands. Norman wants more than the $1.5 trillion in savings over a decade that the bill would produce. He and other conservatives want that figure at $2 trillion.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said that conservatives need to respect the targets set in the bill.

“We set the numbers that we were supposed to hit,” he said. “We should hit those and don’t move the goal posts.”

At least one holdout is leaning toward voting for the bill following today’s meeting of the House GOP factions.

“I’m a ‘lean yes’ now, which is usually not my position at this stage, but I feel good about it,” said McCormick.

Regarding the megabill discussions, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said: “I think we can get to a place that will satisfy the SALT members as well as the low-sodium members.”