Several New York House Republicans remain committed that restoring the federal deduction for state and local tax payments, also known as SALT, be a part of the substantial multi-trillion-dollar tax package the GOP is trying to push through Congress while President Donald Trump wants them to give up that fight.

SALT was expected to be a big sticking point in the legislation, which aims to extend the 2017 tax cuts Republicans passed during President Donald Trump’s first term in office and will expire at the end of this year. The 2017 law capped the SALT deduction at $10,000 — part of an effort to help pay for tax cuts included in that legislation. The cap disproportionately hurts taxpayers in blue states like New York, where property and state income taxes are relatively high.

As it stands, the bill would triple what’s currently a $10,000 cap, increasing it to $30,000 for joint filers with incomes up to $400,000 a year. New York Republicans have proposed a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.

“I made very clear when I ran for office back in ‘22 that I would never support a tax bill that does not adequately lift the cap on SALT,” Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday. “My district, we are the four counties that I represent, are in the top 16 highest property taxed counties in America. Between property taxes and income taxes, it blows well past the $30,000 cap with the $400,000 income cap. So as I’ve said repeatedly, that is insufficient.”

Lawler represents the Hudson Valley in New York’s 17th Congressional District and has been a frontline voice in wanting the $10,000 cap on tax deductions lifted since coming to the House. So far, efforts to convince his colleagues from more conservative states to increase the deduction have been unsuccessful.

Lawler said he will continue to negotiate in good faith with GOP leadership on the issue, but as of now will not support the tax bill. 

“We had some discussions last night with numbers that were higher than what’s in the Ways and Means Committee bill. Those numbers last night didn’t work for me and the members of the SALT Caucus,” Rep. Nick LaLota, another longtime SALT reform advocate from Long Island, said Tuesday. “We need a little more SALT on the table to get to that. And I hope the president’s presence motivates my leadership to give us a number that we can go sell back to them.”

For his part, Trump was also on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to shore up support for the bill, and told reporters the people talking about SALT changes are the Democratic governors in those blue states.

“The biggest beneficiary, if we do that, are governors from New York, Illinois and California. And those governors are the ones that blew it because they weren’t able to get it,” Trump said.

SALT changes have been a demand of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Just months ago, on the campaign trail, Trump was more open to SALT changes, even vowing to restore the provision he himself helped push to eliminate through Congress eight years ago.

“I think the president wants to do right by middle class Americans throughout the country. SALT helps do that and we should come to a deal that helps my middle class constituents,” LaLota said.

Lawler and LaLota’s support — as well as others from the SALT Caucus — for the final package will be crucial given the Republicans’ razor thin margin in the House.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, also from New York, posted on X that "Donald Trump lied to the American people about the State and Local Tax Deduction. And now he is punking House Republicans in NY, NJ and California who will fold like a cheap suit. Vote them all out."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.