President Trump on Friday urged Congress to move faster on his tax bill after negotiators reached a provisional agreement on the long-disputed state-and-local tax (SALT) deduction.
“The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th — we can get it done,” the president wrote on Truth Social, setting a fresh deadline.
Trump’s post came only hours after he had told reporters that slipping past the Independence Day target would not be the “end-all” if lawmakers needed extra time due to negotiations taking longer.
Bessent hinted that a SALT deal is very close
Earlier today, Bessent told Fox Business that he had a discussion with the “SALT Republicans” at the Treasury Department. “My sense is we’re very close to a deal. It’s going to help the voters in their district, but it is going to be fair for the overall American people,” he said, urging every side to “put away individual interests.”
Those lawmakers, many from New York, New Jersey, and California, want to keep the House bill’s deal that lifts the yearly deduction cap to $40,000 from the current $10,000 limit. The current draft moving in the Senate would leave the cap at $10,000.
Several members from high-tax districts said earlier that they will vote against the entire bill unless the ceiling is raised, a threat that would sink the bill in the narrowly divided House.
Negotiators in recent days have united around keeping the $40,000 limit. However, senators are suggesting trimming other parts of the House plan, such as setting a lower income cutoff for taxpayers to claim the write-off.
On Friday, US Rep Nick LaLota said he had heard of a proposal that limits the SALT cap at $40,000 for a total of five years, followed by a drop back to $10,000. “I can’t be a yes on that,” LaLota said. “That just affirms the very thing I’ve been against for so long.”
Another New York Republican, Mike Lawler, described the discussions as “productive” but gave no more details.
Speaker Johnson also struck an optimistic tone. He told reporters that the negotiations will be “resolved in a manner that everybody can live with.” He added, “No one will be delighted about it, but that’s kind of the way this works around here.”
The bill would pour several hundred billion dollars into the military, immigration enforcement, and the border patrol while trimming a series of domestic aid programs. It could reduce Medicaid health insurance spending for the disadvantaged citizens, food assistance, and college financial aid.
