GOP appears set to unveil a more generous SALT break in Trump’s 'big beautiful bill' as vote nears

Wed, May 21, 2025 
House Speaker Mike Johnson appears set to unveil changes to President Trump’s "big beautiful bill" on Wednesday, including a more generous deduction for state and local taxes (SALT).

Johnson confirmed a SALT deal has been struck during a CNN interview Wednesday, with a change that is likely to be formalized soon in a "manager’s amendment" to adjust the bill in the House's Rules committee.

The deal, Johnson said, includes a higher SALT deduction of $40,000 annually. That is an increase from the current $10,000 cap as well as from Johnson’s initial offer of a $30,000 cap.

The deal is also expected to set a higher $500,000 cap on annual income when it comes to eligibility. The current bill begins to phase out the benefits for those with a modified adjusted gross income above $400,000.

The apparent further concession from Johnson came as a group of blue state Republicans — who described themselves as the “SALTY five” — held out for more generous provisions.

House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives at a House Rules Committee meeting early Wednesday morning at the U.S. Capitol. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) 

The group includes Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, Elise Stefanik of New York as well as Tom Kean of New Jersey and Young Kim of California. They had previously pledged to vote no and didn’t immediately offer a public reaction to the deal.

Even if they agree, it unlikely to be the final word on the SALT issue with many Republican fiscal conservatives and representatives of states that will see no SALT benefit long opposed to any additional deductions.

One of the key remaining fiscal hawk holdouts — Rep. Chip Roy of Texas — immediately slammed the deal, suggesting it amounted to "buying a handful of seats...in parochial tax subsidies in the form of SALT."

Johnson also nodded Wednesday morning in the CNN interview to the conservative opposition, saying “no one is delighted,” but expressed confidence in moving to a full vote later today — saying "we plan to do it tonight. That's my plan. Stay tuned."

It was just one in a flurry of moves, including a tense hearing in the House Rules committee that stretched throughout the night, and comes as Republicans race to bridge a series of fissures within the party ahead of the key vote in the House of Representatives.

Johnson is wrestling with a series of other issues Wednesday morning, including reforms to Medicaid spending and green energy credits that are also dividing his party.

Speaker Johnson and President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 

But the apparent SALT deal could be a step to resolve a key front vexing Republican leaders even as the change is sure to add further to a multitrillion-dollar price tag for the overall bill.

A recent analysis from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, done before the more generous SALT deal was unveiled, estimated a possible increase in primary deficits of almost $3.3 trillion over 10 years.

The price tag has raised the ire of deficit hawks, spooked bond markets, and was cited by Moody’s during a recent downgrade of US creditworthiness but has done little to dissuade President Trump, who traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday to push undecided Republicans to vote yes.