Trump Tax Bill Threatened by Ultraconservatives After SALT Deal

Andy Harris Photo by Stefani Reynolds /Bloomberg

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Conservative hardliners threatened to block President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package just as an agreement to increase the state and local tax deduction removed a key obstacle.

Article content

Article content

Ultraconservatives lashed out Wednesday morning shortly after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he had an agreement with lawmakers from high-tax states to increase the limit on the SALT deduction to $40,000.

Article content

Article content

But several hardline Republicans said House GOP leaders aren’t honoring concessions the White House promised them. Some of the ultraconservative lawmakers plan to meet with Trump later in the day, said Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina.

Article content

Article content

House Republicans leaders are also planning to accelerate new Medicaid work requirements to December 2026 from 2029 in what they consider to be a deal with ultra-conservatives, according to a lawmaker familiar with the discussions.

Article content

Still, ultraconservative Representative Andy Harris of Maryland said Wednesday morning the Trump administration promised them in a “midnight deal” deeper cuts in Medicaid and faster elimination of Biden-era clean energy tax breaks.

Article content

“I’m sorry, but that’s a pay grade above the speaker,” Harris said. 

Article content

Harris said the bill doesn’t reflect that agreement and hardliners will block the package if it comes to a vote. Norman said the bill “doesn’t have the votes. It’s not even close.”

Article content

Freedom Caucus members said they aren’t moving the goal posts by asking for more spending cuts than the budget outline they already voted for. They said they want to rearrange the spending cuts to focus on ending “abuse” in Medicaid and immediately ending green energy tax breaks. 

Article content

Article content

A White House official wouldn’t comment on the lawmakers’ assertion about a deal. But the president was on the phone working lawmakers late into the night, the official said.

Article content

How deeply to cut safety-net programs such as food assistance and Medicaid health coverage for the poor and disabled has been a sticking point in reaching agreement on Trump’s tax bill, as Johnson attempts to navigate a narrow and fractious majority.

Article content

Harris and Norman spoke shortly after Johnson announced the SALT agreement on CNN. It wasn’t immediately clear whether a group of Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California who had withheld support for the tax bill over the SALT limit had signed off on the deal.

Article content

Representative Mike Lawler of New York told NPR in an interview Wednesday morning that lawmakers are still working through some “finer points,” but that he’s hopeful to reach a deal later in the day.

Article content

Johnson said there is “a chance” the package could come to a vote Wednesday.

Article content

But several ultraconservatives cast doubt on that. “There’s a long way to go,” said Representative Chip Roy of Texas, another Republican hardliner.