Congress

Not much more room left for SALT, says GOP tax chief

Published

1 year ago

May 14, 2025

House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) told reporters Wednesday there’s only about $50 billion available to increase a key tax deduction sought by blue-state Republicans.

Under legislation advanced out of Ways and Means early Wednesday morning, House Republicans would triple the $10,000 state-and-local-tax deduction to $30,000 and put a new $400,000 income limit on the write-off. But a hardcore contingent of five New York, New Jersey and California Republicans have called the proposal wildly insufficient and threatened to withhold their vote from the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy bill without a further boost to the deduction.

Smith told a small group of reporters he “will do whatever is necessary to deliver on this tax bill” while warning there was limited fiscal space for a SALT deal given his panel’s many other priorities.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is facing internal pressure on multiple fronts, can only lose three Republican lawmakers on the expected party-line vote. As committees wrap up their work on the bill, GOP leaders have scheduled a briefing at 2:30 p.m. Thursday for members to ask questions and air problems before it heads for votes in the Budget Committee Friday and in the Rules Committee next week. Three Republicans were granted anonymity to confirm the yet-to-be announced meeting plans.

It could be difficult for Johnson to placate the SALT members with only $50 billion of negotiating room, which would likely allow for only a modest boost to the current proposal. Johnson will be hard-pressed in particular to sway New York Republicans like Nick LaLota, who have pushed to increase the SALT cap to as high as $62,000 for individuals and $124,000 for married couples.

Johnson indicated Wednesday morning that negotiations over the deduction might run into the weekend after talks with the so-called SALT Republicans sputtered. The soured talks led to New York Reps. Mike Lawler and LaLota hurling criticism at Smith over the past couple days. They have asserted Smith is refusing to negotiate, while Smith has maintained that it’s up to Johnson to cut a deal with the blue-state Republicans.

Johnson said “more discussion” is expected and that he’s “very optimistic” about clinching a deal. “It may take me the weekend,” he said.

Congress

House Oversight requests Alan Dershowitz testify in Epstein probe

Published

20 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Oversight Committee requested that Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who once represented Jeffery Epstein, testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files.

The interview is tentatively slated for 10 a.m. on July 9, with a video and transcript of the testimony being released “as expeditiously as practical,” Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote in a letter to Dershowitz on Friday.

“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” Comer wrote.

Comer told reporters on Wednesday that he wanted to hear from Dershowitz, who helped Epstein secure a controversial plea deal in his 2008 sex abuse case.

“I’m looking forward to testifying,” Dershowitz wrote in a text message to Blue Light News on Friday, adding that he is “trying to adjust my schedule” for July 9.

Congress

Cornyn tells Mike Lee to lay off John Thune

Published

22 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. John Cornyn isn’t a card-carrying member of the Senate GOP’s growing YOLO caucus. But with less than seven months left in office after losing his primary, the Texas Republican appears to be feeling newly free to speak his mind.

The latest clap-back came Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning, when Cornyn called a conservative influencer a “grifter” and told Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on social media to stop publicly blaming fellow Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune — for the fact that the GOP elections bill doesn’t have support to pass inside the party.

“You don’t have the votes” for the SAVE America Act, Cornyn posted on X. “@LeaderJohnThune can’t change that. It is math.”

He was directing his comments at Lee, who had just penned a post telling Thune, “let’s do this!”

Cornyn continued, “Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November.”

Lee responded to ask, “on what planet is this an attack on Republicans?” and appeared to suggest a staffer was tweeting on Cornyn’s behalf: “Once my friend John Cornyn realizes that you’re saying this in his name—whoever you are—I don’t think he’ll be happy with you.”

Cornyn, however, is known for posting himself on his social media accounts in a chamber where many Senate accounts are run solely by staff. And he’s been making it clear all week that he will push back on Trump and his party when he thinks it’s needed.

In multiple conversations with reporters in the Capitol, Cornyn said that Republicans need to “stop the circular firing squad.” And he added that he won’t intentionally be “a thorn in [Trump’s] side,” but he’s also “not going to go out of my way to try to appease him.”

“I want him to succeed, I want the Republican Party to succeed, I want the country to succeed,” Cornyn said this week. “But on a case-by-case basis, when I think there’s been overreach or just a bad idea, I’m not going to hesitate to weigh in.”

The four-term senator’s comments come after he lost his primary last month to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed in the final days of the runoff.

Cornyn said in an interview with The New York Times that he was not a “wounded bear” but that he believed Trump’s insistence on “slavish adherence” was going to backfire for Republicans in the midterms and result in “the most miserable two years of his life” if Democrats flip the House or Senate.

“I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,” Cornyn said.

Congress

Capitol agenda: What Schumer told us about AI

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Chuck Schumer wants Congress to pass AI legislation. But he’s casting doubt on it happening this year.

“In this Congress, it’s hard,” the Senate minority leader said in an interview Thursday.

Schumer’s reality check isn’t a complete door-slam. But it underscores the steep climb lawmakers face to bridge a slew of intra-party and inter-chamber divides about what Washington’s approach should be toward the emerging opportunities and risks from the rapidly developing technology.

The problems are multi-pronged.

The White House, whose posture toward AI has shifted dramatically in recent weeks, is angling to enact legislation that would preempt state laws in favor of a national standard. Most recently, administration officials have been exploring a plan to attach preemption legislation to bills designed to shore up kids’ safety online. But there are issues — House Republicans aren’t in love with the Senate GOP’s kid safety bills and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that many senators have concerns “about not trampling states’ rights in the process.”

Democrats aren’t unified on what to do next, with the public broadly skeptical about AI.

Some House and Senate Democrats are leery of state preemption and want to wait until next year to tackle AI, when they might be in power. Opposition from key Democrats is a major factor derailing an attempt by Reps. Lori Trahan and Jay Obernolte to strike a deal on legislation that would set nationwide safety and transparency rules while restricting state action. And Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a moratorium on AI data centers pending stricter government oversight.

Schumer is striking a balanced tone on how to proceed, arguing that there are “tremendous benefits” from AI but that “we also have to have guardrails.”

“We should get something done on AI, and it’s … got to be balanced — keep innovation strong, but have guardrails to prevent the dangers,” he said. “That’s a hard needle to thread, but I would very much like to see that get done the sooner the better.”

What else we’re watching:

— FISA LAPSE, CLAYTON NOMINATION: Thune is vowing to move “fairly quickly” to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, with the FISA Section 702 spy authority set to lapse at midnight thanks to a stalemate between Democrats and the White House over the position.

— GOP ADVANCES BIG DEFENSE BOOST — Republicans have taken the first steps toward granting President Donald Trump’s request for the largest budget ever for the Pentagon. Senate Armed Services members on Thursday approved a draft of their annual defense authorization bill outlining priorities for $1.14 trillion in defense spending next year. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee advanced $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2027 funding for the Defense Department in a closed-door markup.

Calen Razor and Connor O’Brien contributed reporting.