Several New York House Republicans are taking credit for a $40,000 SALT cap passed in the budget bill early on Thursday. Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Nick LaLota (R-NY) all sent out statements attributing the inclusion of the SALT cap in the House’s budget bill to their efforts.
LaLota was the first of the three to post on X about the accomplishment, laying out a graphic that includes a headline: “LaLota has been the loudest voice for expanding the SALT deduction.”
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“Big win for Long Island: The House just passed the One Big Beautiful Bill with my SALT fix—raising the cap to $40K and delivering full relief to 92% of my constituents. Could save families up to $8,000. I said No SALT, no deal—and we delivered. Senate’s next!” he said.
It’s unclear if the $40,000 cap was LaLota’s idea. He was a part of the self-named “SALT Caucus” that included Reps. LaLota, Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Stefanik, Lawler, Tom Kean (R-NJ), and Young Kim (R-CA). SALT is the most relevant tax deduction for states with high taxes, like New York and California.
SALT is a critical issue for the New York Republicans, and they stalled the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ in order to get a sufficient cap raise included. Stefanik trekked to the White House on Tuesday to meet with President Donald Trump presumably over SALT. The president had blasted Lawler over his SALT fight in a House GOP meeting, saying if his voters don’t turn out for him in 2026 due the SALT issue, that means he was going to “lose anyway.”
A spokesperson for Lawler told the Washington Examiner that he led the SALT negotiations with House leadership and the White House.
But Stefanik also said she led the SALT talks.
“This legislation includes key provisions that will benefit hardworking New York families,” she told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “I was especially proud to work with my New York Republican colleagues to lead on delivering significant tax relief for New Yorkers by increasing the State and Local Tax cap by 300% – a win for hard working families struggling under the weight of the highest tax burden in the nation because of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s failed Far Left tax and spend Democrat policies.”
Lawler may have faced the most damaging consequences if voters deem he hadn’t secured a steep enough SALT deduction in his rich New York swing district that counts former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton amongst its residents. Other New York Republicans, like LaLota, are in competitive districts as well, but none in areas that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
Lawler said publicly that he quadrupled the cap on SALT, and also took a shot at Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) in the process.
“Promises made, promises kept. I’m proud to have quadrupled the cap on SALT, which will bring tax relief to so many New York families. Now, it’s time for Kathy Hochul to work to reduce state spending and lower taxes. A $13 billion increase in spending this year is just the opposite,” he posted on his X campaign account. He did not mention Hochul in a similar post on his House account.
His political enemies pounced on his SALT concessions. The SALT cap was set to $10,000 in 2017 by Trump’s tax bill after being an unlimited deduction.
“Let’s be clear: The SALT cap was a Trump-era tax hike on New York families. It was set to expire. @lawler4ny just helped keep it alive. That’s not a victory, it’s a betrayal of the Hudson Valley,” Democratic challenger Beth Davidson said in a post on X.
The New York Democratic Party slammed New York House Republicans for not securing enough tax relief. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other New York Democrats have called for a repeal of the cap.
“Mike Lawler, Elise Stefanik, and their fellow New York House Republicans caved to Donald Trump’s demands and failed to secure meaningful tax relief. New York Republicans broke their promises so they could rip away healthcare from 2 million New Yorkers, hand special interest billionaires a tax cut, and leave working families behind,” New York State Democratic Party spokesperson Addison Dick told the Washington Examiner.
Hochul slammed the New York GOP lawmakers for “caving” on Wednesday.
“Looks like they caved again. Their promise of full repeal is just more roadkill on their highway of broken promises. Pathetic,” she said.
One other New York House Republican didn’t appear to take credit for the SALT cap passing, despite being a cog in the SALT Caucus: Garbarino.
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He was absent from the early morning vote on Thursday, which occurred after lawmakers stayed up all night working on the bill.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had an explanation for Garbarino’s absence: he fell asleep.