House Republicans who secured a bigger cap on state and local tax deductions are pushing back on Senate Republicans, who are keeping the SALT cap at $10,000 in their forthcoming legislation as a placeholder for negotiations over the contentious issue.

The Washington Examiner confirmed on Monday that the Senate Finance Committee’s soon-to-be-released version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reverts the SALT cap to $10,000. The House-passed version of the legislation quadrupled the cap to $40,000.

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While the Senate’s $10,000 cap is a temporary placeholder to allow lawmakers to introduce the legislative text while allowing for further negotiation, House “SALT caucus” members who pushed hard for the increase to $40,000 began criticizing the Senate proposal Monday.

“Consider this the response to the Senate’s ‘negotiating mark’: DEAD ON ARRIVAL,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said in a post on X accompanied by a GIF of Steve Carell from The Office shaking his head no.

In an additional press release, Lawler said he considers the $40,000 figure a done deal, despite the Senate suggesting the headline SALT cap number is open to negotiation and will be reduced as part of the reconciliation process.

“After engaging in good faith negotiations, we were able to increase the cap on SALT from $10,000 to $40,000,” Lawler said. “That is the deal, and I will not accept a penny less. If the Senate reduces the SALT number, I will vote NO, and the bill will fail in the House.”

Similarly, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said that the Senate leaving the SALT cap at $10,000 is “a slap in the face to the Republican districts that delivered our majority and trifecta.”

“If we want to be the big tent party, we need to recognize that we have members representing blue states with high taxes that are subsidizing many red districts across the country with constituents who benefit from refundable tax credits despite paying zero in taxes,” she added.

Another SALT caucus member, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), released a less confrontational statement, acknowledging that the $10,000 cap in the Senate version will inevitably rise.

“Everyone knows this 10K number will have to go up. And it will,” she said. “NY Republicans will fight and deliver real tax relief for our overly taxed constituents (unlike NY Democrats who have failed the people of NY over and over crushing them with high taxes).”

Most rank-and-file Republicans, even in the House, want a lower SALT cap. Because of the House’s slim majority, the SALT caucus can exact big legislative changes by banding together and threatening to tank the entire bill if they don’t get what they want on SALT.

If no deal is reached and the end-of-year tax deadline is breached, the SALT cap would be eliminated. It would expire along with the other 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions that apply to households.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), one of the fiercest supporters of not budging on the cap, emphasized that dynamic on social media Monday afternoon.

“The Senate doesn’t have the votes for $10k SALT in the House,” LaLota said. “And if they’re not sold on the House’s $40k compromise, wait until they crash the OBBB and TCJA expires—when SALT goes back to unlimited at year-end. They won’t like that one bit.”

In a joint statement, Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) also suggested that the Senate is undermining the overall reconciliation legislation.

“We have been crystal clear that the SALT deal we negotiated in good faith with the Speaker and the White House must remain in the final bill,” they said.

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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Bloomberg last week that a $30,000 compromise is being considered in the Senate. SALT Republicans already rejected a $30,000 offer during negotiations on the House side.

While SALT has been a big deal in the House, Republicans in the Senate have other priorities they would rather see in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, such as making business tax breaks permanent. Cutting down the SALT cap from $40,000 would give them more money to codify those business provisions, boosting economic growth.