Democrats torch GOP lawmakers, Trump for lack of progress on SALT deduction

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Jan 13, 2025

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Democrats torched GOP lawmakers Monday for what they called a lack of progress on restoring the popular tax deduction for State and Local Taxes (SALT) at a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend,

Team Blue says suburban moderate Republicans showed how little leverage they have with Trump when they left the sit-down without a road map for either fully restoring the deduction or dramatically raising the $10,000 cap the GOP imposed as part of the 2017 Trump tax cuts.

“Unfair double taxation is hurting hard-working Long Islanders’ pockets,” Rep. Laura Gillen, a Nassau County Democrat, posted on X. “House Republicans must push for a full restoration of the SALT deduction. If they won’t, I’m happy to take their spot.”

Big Apple Republicans including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island, Long Island’s Rep. Nick LaLota and Westchester County Rep. Mike Lawler shot the breeze with Trump and won a thumbs up from the MAGA leader after a chummy meeting in balmy Palm Beach.

Even before it started, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries discounted the meeting as an empty talk shop that would never lead to real results.

“These people aren’t serious,” he posted to X.

The GOP lawmakers sought to put a positive spin on the meeting, claiming they are making progress towards winning Trump’s support for the deduction, which is a huge issue for wealthy voters in pricey suburbs in New York, New Jersey and California.

“(Trump) is committed to helping Long Islanders, who suffer from the nation’s highest state & local taxes,” LaLota tweeted.

“We will get it done,” Lawler chimed in.

Malltiokis conceded that it’s unlikely fellow Republicans will agree to scrap the cap altogether. She admitted that Trump told them to hash out details on a possible increase with fellow Republians.

“He wants us to work on what would be a fair number.” the Staten Island lawmaker told Politico.

Trump and congressional Republicans are still seeking to come up with a broad plan for passing key portions of Trump’s agenda given the GOP’s tiny majority in the House and the fact they need to use a legislative slight of hand called reconciliation to get it past a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

Extending the Trump tax cuts, which significantly cut rates for the wealthy and big business, is a key priority for almost all Republicans.

But some of the blue state GOP lawmakers say they won’t back any tax plan that does not eliminate or expand the SALT deduction cap.

Meanwhile, some Republican fiscal hawks bitterly oppose scrapping the SALT cap because it would increase the budget deficit. Others have said they won’t vote to eliminate the debt ceiling, an unrelated top goal for Trump, who wants a free hand to push for more spending as he sees fit.

With only a 219-215 Republican majority in the House, that signals big trouble for SALT and potentially the entire Trump plan. The narrow edge is expected to get even slimmer when two Republican members of congress join Trump’s cabinet.