L-R: Mike Lawler, Donald Trump, John Thune; SALT Caucus Republicans are firing a warning shot to the Senate as it considers President Trump's budget bill. (Getty/AP)
The Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxes, healthcare and a litany of other divisive policy areas in President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill," is expected to release its offering of the mammoth bill later on Tuesday.
Senate Republicans have not shown much interest in heeding the needs of the cohort of blue state Republicans, given that no member of the Senate GOP represents a blue state. Of the tweaks and changes coming in the Senate’s rewrite of the tax package, SALT is among the top of the list.
SALT deductions were initially capped at $10,000 for married and single filers in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and GOP lawmakers in front-line districts have made it their mission to raise that cap in the current tax talks.
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Left: President Donald Trump; Right: Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. (Left:Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images; Right: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Increasing the SALT cap was a major line in the sand for House Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California, who vowed to vote against the package unless the deduction was increased and warned that if a solution wasn’t found, the GOP could lose the House.
Last-minute negotiations leading up to the House vote last month raised the cap to $40,000 for both single and married filers making up to $500,000 per year.
The deduction would drop for people making over the $500,000-mark to a minimum deduction of $10,000. Both the cap and income ceiling would increase annually by 1% from 2026 to 2033.
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Indeed, their support helped to squeak the massive bill through the House, which advanced by a one-vote margin. Now Senate Republicans are sprinting to finish their molding of the bill in an attempt to get the entire package back through the lower chamber and onto Trump’s desk by July 4.
SALT Caucus co-chairs Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital that the cap negotiated "in good faith with the speaker and the White House must remain in the final bill."
"It not only upholds President Trump’s commitment to raise the SALT cap, but has been praised by middle-class families, firefighters, law enforcement, small business owners, and hardworking Americans across the country," they said in a joint statement. "Instead of undermining the deal already in place and putting the entire bill at risk, the Senate should work with us to keep our promise of historic tax relief and deliver on our Republican agenda."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blue-state-republicans-threaten-revolt-against-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-senate-changes-key-tax-rule