Congress
Business tax incentives will grow, SALT will be cut, Crapo tells senators
Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo told fellow Republicans in a Wednesday briefing that three major business tax provisions will be made permanent in the GOP’s megabill, senators who attended said, while a key break for individual taxpayers will be scaled back.
The pledge to restore larger tax deductions for research-and-development costs, business equipment purchases and interest on debt fulfills a major priority for Crapo and members of his panel, who consider them a major driver of economic growth.
But making the breaks permanent is costly, and it will require tradeoffs that could cause political problems as GOP leaders seek to finish work on the bill in the coming weeks. Crapo said one such move will be scaling back a House-brokered deal on the state-and-local-tax deduction.
GOP Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and John Hoeven of North Dakota, who have both pushed for the business tax cuts, confirmed Crapo’s remarks. “Yes, he did” guarantee business tax permanency, Hoeven said. “I’ve been adamant from the start, and he’s been adamant from the start.”
The House-passed version of the bill restores the trio of tax incentives through 2029; making them permanent would likely add hundreds of billions of red ink to the bill.
Permanency is mainly a Senate priority; President Donald Trump has signaled he’s fine with a short-term extension of the business tax cuts. To help offset the additional costs, Crapo is targeting a hot-potato House priority in the SALT deduction.
He told GOP senators he plans to cap SALT at a lower level than the $40,000 deal Speaker Mike Johnson cut with his own members. Blue-state GOP lawmakers are already raising warning bells over the plan, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune first outlined to POLITICO.
Crapo didn’t give a precise SALT number in the meeting, attendees said, but some GOP senators have floated going down to $20,000 while others are floating that they should offer the House the same $30,000 that Johnson initially offered to his holdout members.
“The House did $40,000; we’re going to do something less,” Hoeven said. “We know there’s a potential $350 billion there, but we haven’t settled on a number.”
The move on SALT is a blow to Johnson and other House Republicans who have urged Thune to make as few changes as possible to the House bill. While the Senate bill is likely to mirror large swaths of the House language, Crapo’s presentation is the most significant indication yet that the Senate will alter some of the most politically sensitive areas of the bill.
“I’m very, very concerned about what they might do on the SALT number and a number of provisions in the bill,” Johnson told reporters after the Senate meeting broke. “They need to hopefully modify it as little as possible.”
Responding to Crapo’s comments, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) said, “I can guarantee you: any bill that passes here will have a SALT provision of $40,000 or more.” Rep. Nicole Malliotakois (R-N.Y.) warned Senate Republicans are “running the risk of this entire bill imploding” if they alter the House SALT deal, adding that “they will be responsible for the largest tax hike on the American people.”
Crapo and Thune will meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday to walk him through the tax plan, said two people granted anonymity to describe the private plans. Crapo is also expected to brief the Senate GOP in greater depth early next week.
In addition to the tax language, Crapo is responsible for drafting the bill’s Medicaid provisions, and he gave considerably less detail about what changes he is eyeing there, senators said. Many of the GOP senators who have concerns about the bill’s handling of the program are not on the Finance Committee.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is seeking to protect rural hospitals in her state, told reporters after the meeting she’s “making some suggestions” on Medicaid tweaks but did not elaborate. Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota added that “some of the Medicaid stuff is going to have to be scrubbed” and suggested it would be subject to further changes.
Lisa Kashinsky and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Congress
Megabill reading wraps up after nearly 16 hours
Senate clerks have completed a nearly 16-hour reading of the GOP’s 940-page megabill. Clerks began reading the text aloud at 11:08 p.m. Saturday and finished Sunday at 3:03 p.m.
By refusing to waive chamber rules allowing for reading, Senate Democrats hoped to create an opportunity to highlight some of the most unpopular issues in the legislation. Now, under Senate rules, there will be 20 hours of the debate evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats are expected to use their full 10 hours, while Republicans are expected to take only a couple hours. That would mean the vote-a-rama — a marathon series of amendment votes — will begin sometime early Monday morning, though senators could agree by unanimous consent to delay it.
The GOP megabill is by no means finalized. Party leaders continue to negotiate to tweak the bill in ways that will win 51 votes in the Senate while also garnering enough votes to pass in the House later this week without further modifications. Republicans also continue to deal with the chamber’s parliamentarian, who continues to review whether parts of the bill comply with the budget rules the GOP is using to pass the bill along party lines.
Congress
White House eyes Kentucky state senator for Massie challenge
White House officials will host Kentucky state Sen. Aaron Reed in the coming weeks for a discussion about challenging GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in next year’s Republican primary, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the private plans.
President Donald Trump and his political operation have been searching for a candidate to challenge Massie over his opposition to the president’s “big, beautiful bill” and his strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Trump political advisers Chris LaCivita and pollster Tony Fabrizio have launched a super PAC directed at defeating Massie that’s already running a TV ad attacking the seven-term incumbent.
Massie is embracing the challenge, fundraising off MAGA’s slights and telling reporters last week he raised $120,000 in a single day off of Trump’s threats to campaign “really hard” against him.
Massie — who previously endorsed Reed for state Senate, and whom Reed in return had called “one of America’s greatest Congressmen” — did not immediately return a request for comment. Reed, a former Navy SEAL, was first elected to the Kentucky state house last year.
Congress
Thom Tillis says he will retire following Trump attacks
Sen. Thom Tillis, a two-term North Carolina Republican who was expected to contest one of 2026’s toughest Senate races, said Sunday he will not seek re-election.
Tillis made the announcement after voting “no” on a procedural vote to advance President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” — the cornerstone of his domestic policy agenda. Trump subsequently attacked Tillis in a series of social media posts.
“In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,“ Tillis said in a statement.
He continued: “As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term. That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home. It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.”
Tillis’ retirement sets up what could be a wild and crowded GOP primary in the Tar Heel State. On the Democratic side, Rep. Wiley Nickel is already in the race, and national party leaders are hoping ex-Gov. Roy Cooper enters the race.
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