WASHINGTON - House Republicans’ republicans’ response to how federal deductions for state and local taxes, or salt deductions, are a tricky question.
The ongoing struggle not only sets Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo). It also creates disagreements among pro-salt Republicans, weakens their negotiation leverage and complicates the road to a deal.
While some of them were willing to accept Smith's offer to raise the cap to $30,000, another faction frankly rejected the lack of the number. And, they are increasingly frustrated with some colleagues because they think they want to have low ball offers.
The tensions reached a boiling point Tuesday, when pro-salt Republicans met in the office of Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss strategies and asked Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, RN.Y. - According to two sources in the room, this is a member on the way to support the $30,000 cap.
"She was not invited and was not part of our negotiations. That's why she was asked to leave," said a source in the room, who described the moment while anonymously. "Jason Smith said yesterday that negotiating with us was not his job, so no one knows why he sent her there."
It was a moment of distrust in the faction - the suggestion was that Malliotakis was there not to promote their cause, but to be Smith's mole as they stared at him in high-stakes negotiations. Rep. Claudia Tenney, RN.Y. Another salt supporter sitting on the Means Committee said on social media that she wasn't invited to the meeting either.
A few hours later, Malliotakis voted to pass the $30,000 cap on the committee and said in a statement that it would “provide much needed relief to the middle class and cover 98% of households in my area.” Tenney also supports the bill.
Top House Republicans highlighted their support for $30,000 to show that other quartets of New York Republicans who want a bigger deduction - representing Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler, Nick Lalota and Andrew Garbarino - are not justifying. But taxes vary by region, which explains why each member has a different level of willingness to deduct deductions. 2017 Tax Code Republicans are now seeking to expand the cap on state and local tax relief that imposes $10,000.
All four New York Republicans have stood together so far and have the ability to put the entire bill into a narrow House majority, with Johnson having only three votes to pay.
Stefanik, a member of Johnson's leadership team, recently developed a cold relationship with the speaker, who played the lead role in the negotiations. Rep. Young Kim, who represents one of the highest regions in the country, has also been closely aligned with New York Republicans. Now, Johnson is going to sign a deal on the House floor and appease a deal — many of which come from swing areas, and they will decide which party will control the Chamber of Commerce in the 2026 midterm elections.
Asked about the events at Tuesday's meeting, Malliotakis told NBC News in a statement: "As the only salt caucus member, what I know is that they can sit down and negotiate with themselves, but nothing will change unless I and the committee agree."
Malliotakis said that while everyone needs to advocate for their own region, her goal is to reach a resolution and “provide a big, beautiful bill for the United States.”
Later, Staten Island Republicans said she was huddled with Johnson, Smith and other ways and means committee members “for hours” trying to find a way forward on salt.
"I think there are some better deals, but the windows are closing," Malliotakis told reporters. "The longer it takes, the closer we get Memorial Day, the lower the sodium diets of many of my colleagues are growing."
Smith's office and Johnson's office did not respond to requests for comment. But speakers have publicly insisted that they will reach a salt deal, although he admits it may take weekends to get there. Johnson said he will hold a meeting Thursday morning between pro-Salt Republicans and some members of the far-right Housing Freedom Caucus, and they don't want to raise their salt caps further unless they cut Medicaid even more steeply.
As a deal remains elusive, members of the Salt Caucus have been shooting their fire on Smith publicly, and they think they are trying to delay them by marking the committee’s broader packaging, although the issue of hot ass is not uncommon.
Some Republicans who support Smith hope Smith will delay Smith giving them more time to solve the solution, asking Smith if he can accommodate the request, according to two Republican members and another Republican source familiar with the matter. But the marking goes as planned.
There was another moment before the markup, when Smith introduced his plan to pro-Salt Republicans to advance the $30,000 cap. During a video conference on Monday, Smith told his colleagues that negotiating with the Salt Caucus Republicans was not his job, but the job of a spokesperson, as NBC News previously reported. Smith explained that his bill reflects the will of his committee, not the Salt Caucus.
"When his own chairman said, 'I don't have to negotiate with anyone, I just need to negotiate with the committee, the spokesperson should be asked how to classify it as negotiation," Lawler told reporters. "He should be reminded that he wouldn't have a gavel without members of the salt core member."
The group declined to publicly state its demands rather than wanting to raise higher than the current proposal. Behind the scenes, however, multiple Republican sources said the group is paying $40,000 for individuals and a $80,000 cap for couples. But it will be expensive and in the House and Senate, and with broader Republican support to remove funds from tax policies.
As the negotiations dragged down, salt members tried to distribute salt outside the speaker office and wore a salt shaker that read: "Feelin'Salty."
"We will continue to talk to the speakers," Larota said. "Unfortunately, the Ways and Means Committee refuses to negotiate with us in good faith. We are discussing these issues with the speakers."
This is an uncomfortable situation for almost all Republicans involved. Neither of them wants to be seen as an obstacle to Trump’s agenda. But salt is a clear problem in their area, and that's why some of their predecessors lost reelection after imposing a $10,000 cap - if voters think they've accepted a half-cooked deal, they can pay the political price. Stefanik and Lawler are also running for the governor of New York, which makes action politically necessary.
Lalotta said he was not worried about going back outside Long Island. “I’m here to make my voters happy,” he said next to the House. “That’s my top priority.”
In another sign that Republican leaders are taking away key votes, Rep. Jeff van Drew (RN.J.) also represents a high tax zone, who said he supports a $30,000 offer and encourages colleagues to be willing to compromise.
"They are fighting for their constituents. I know they have some very high taxes. And we are in New Jersey. I want to remember that actually does this big and beautiful bill, one way is that we all have to give a little bit."
"So we have people from red states who don't want to do a penny, or even those who don't want to do $10,000. We have people from other states who want $100,000 or $200,000. In my opinion, we are not the place we are going to go." "It's going to be somewhere in between."
The salt bucket also created tensions between more moderate Republicans and the greatest rights of the meeting.
R-Ga. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene complained that her colleagues picked out Lawler’s salt on social media, saying he was “normally the one with the best ideas in the meeting.”
Lawler hits Greene of X, and he says: "It's shocking that the 'Jewish Space Laser' lady once again doesn't know what she's talking about."
Later, he told reporters that he wouldn't just change his mind: "Because Marjorie Taylor Greene threw out his suit."