Congress
Scalise says SALT talks already kicking off
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that Republicans were negotiating on Tuesday over how to accommodate concerns about the state and local tax deduction that could be an obstacle to a sweeping tax package next year.
“We need to address this problem,” said Scalise (R-La.) of the contingent of House Republicans from California, New Jersey and New York who have been adamant about lifting the $10,000 cap on the deduction for state income and property taxes, known as SALT in tax parlance. “They’re coming back.”
A spokesperson for Scalise did not immediately respond to a request about which lawmakers were participating in the meetings.
The early negotiations signal just how challenging House Republican leadership expects it to be to muster the votes for an anticipated reconciliation bill next year, which could be passed without Democratic support. Republicans want to use the legislation to extend trillions of dollars in expiring tax cuts that President-elect Donald Trump and his allies in Congress pushed through in 2017, during Trump’s first term.
And the most difficult part for leadership promises to be those pro-SALT Republicans, who held up a tax package earlier this spring over demands that it include some form of relief from the cap. The limit was imposed to offset some of the cost of the 2017 cuts – and ding blue states that have high taxes.
Tuesday morning, Rep. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.) reaffirmed those demands, telling Blue Light News that he’s made it “abundantly clear” that any future tax packages will need to address SALT.
In remarks made at a panel hosted by the Business Roundtable and the American Petroleum Institute, Scalise said that he reminded incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) that such demands from Republicans in high-tax states could be a significant challenge in the House.
“I reminded him, because he wasn’t part of it last time around in the top leadership, that our challenge in the House is much different,” Scalise said. The Senate GOP “doesn’t have a single SALT state member. There’s five states that are really affected by SALT, and New York and New Jersey were the most vocal,”
“We had over 30 members from those states,” Scalise said of 2017. “By the way we still have close to that today.”
For now, negotiations over taxes are mired in an ongoing strategic debate over whether to do two reconciliation bills, addressing border and energy policies first and taxes later, or enact all of the Republicans’ policy priorities together.
Still, there are plenty of Republicans who detest the idea of raising the SALT cap because they believe it unfairly benefits wealthy taxpayers in high-tax states.
“We’ve got people on both ends, Republicans and Democrats who don’t like it,” said House Ways and Means committee member Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).
Congress
These House GOP election proposals could end up in a reconciliation bill
The chair of the House committee overseeing elections is circulating a list of proposals to include in a budget reconciliation bill as Senate Republicans and the White House move to rev up the party-line process to pass pieces of a contentious GOP voting bill in the coming months.
The list from House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) is a peek at what sort of provisions Republicans could try to pass under reconciliation, which is strictly reserved for legislation with a direct fiscal impact. The party-line effort is likely to rule out big portions of the SAVE America Act, the bill President Donald Trump has called his “No. 1 priority” for the year.
Steil’s proposals would mandate or financially incentivize states to implement voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship for voter registration, share voter data with federal agencies for verification and conduct post-election audits, among other items, according to a document obtained by POLITICO being circulated with GOP leaders and several Republican offices. It’s an effort to try to secure major pieces of Trump’s election-related demands.
In some cases, states would lose funding under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, a law passed in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election that provides federal money to help administer elections, if they fail to comply.
It’s not clear if parts of Steil’s proposals would in fact pass muster under the party-line reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian’s guidance typically determines what is and isn’t included.
Three people granted anonymity to discuss the brewing deal Senate Republicans and Trump discussed Monday evening, to pass Homeland Security funding now and SAVE America Act provisions later, say the most likely outcome for a new reconciliation bill is adding money for ballot security measures and potentially incentivizing more states to enact voter ID requirements. Steil’s list includes some of those pieces.
Under Steil’s proposal, states using noncompliant IDs would be ineligible to receive HAVA funding — consistent with Steil’s bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, which overlaps with the SAVE America Act but also has no current path to passage in the Senate.
His effort to mandate proof-of-citizenship requirements would appropriate funds to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the national voter registration form to require “Documentary Proof of Citizenship” such as a passport or military ID. States would have to forfeit HAVA funds if they fail to share data with federal agencies to verify voter registration data, a move officials in several states have refused to make.
Besides the Senate parliamentarian, any effort to pass elections provisions on party lines will face other obstacles. The decision to pursue a new reconciliation bill in lieu of trying to pass the SAVE America Act in full is already generating major pushback from conservative hard-liners.
The House Freedom Caucus took a shot at Senate Republicans Tuesday, arguing the brewing DHS deal means Senate Republicans are opting for “failure theater” and “gaslighting” instead of fighting to pass the bill Trump has endorsed. Even GOP senators and senior aides are privately cautioning the fresh reconciliation push could fall apart, stranding the elections overhaul and other GOP priorities.
Congress
King Charles to make first US state visit, address Congress next month
England’s King Charles III will make his first state visit to Washington next month.
As part of his visit, the king will address Congress in a joint meeting the week of April 27, according to two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss plans ahead of a formal announcement.
The visit was first reported by Punchbowl News.
It will be the first time a British royal has addressed Congress since 1991, when Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to speak before a packed House chamber.
President Donald Trump visited London in September, and House Speaker Mike Johnson visited in January as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Johnson addressed Parliament during his visit, becoming the first House speaker to do so.
Charles’ visit comes as Trump continues to pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer for assistance in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
Starmer has distanced himself from the war, previously stating, “This is not our war, and we are not getting dragged into this war.”
Congress
Stitt picks energy executive Alan Armstrong as next Oklahoma senator
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt tapped energy executive Alan Armstrong to replace incoming DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in the Senate, he announced in a press conference Tuesday.
Armstrong is the executive chair of Williams Companies, an energy company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stitt called him a “strong business leader” who values “free markets and limited government.”
“Alan’s story, as you guys get to know him, reflects the very best of Oklahoma,” he said. “Our values, our work ethic, and our pursuit of the American dream that is alive and well in the state of Oklahoma.”
Armstrong will serve until a successor is elected in November. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) is the heavy favorite to win a full term.
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