All year, top House and Senate Republicans have been in punt formation.
What would Medicaid cuts look like under President Donald Trump’s reconciliation package? Punt. How would House GOP leaders get $880 billion in savings from the House Energy and Commerce Committee? We’ll decide later. How about scrapping clean energy tax credits? Need to get back to you. What will Republicans do about the nettlesome SALT cap? Let’s keep the conversation going.
It’s now May 1. Speaker Mike Johnson wants to pass the totality of Trump’s domestic policy agenda through the House in the next three weeks.
Yet House Republicans still haven’t made decisions on some of the biggest issues hanging over the massive reconciliation package. They’re still fighting over the basic contours of the trickiest tax cuts and spending reductions.
The disagreements impact nearly every House committee. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee scrapped a $20 fee on automobiles following a backlash. The House Judiciary Committee reversed plans to shift antitrust enforcement away from the Federal Trade Commission.
More importantly, the House Ways and Means Committee won’t even publicly commit to a date to mark up the $4.5 trillion tax title of the reconciliation package, although we’re told May 8 is the target date.
“We’re working through each of the final issues, and it’s coming down the wire because four committees have already produced their bills, and we’re on track,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in an interview.
Now let’s review some of the most serious conflicts that Republicans are trying to resolve.
SALT. Johnson met Wednesday afternoon with Republicans who are demanding the $10,000 SALT cap get lifted as part of reconciliation. Johnson said he was seeking “final feedback” before GOP tax writers lock in a new deduction cap.
That’s a nice thought. But in reality, the conversations aren’t close to being finalized. Members of the SALT Caucus reiterated that lifting the cap is a red line for them
“It was a lively discussion,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) said following the meeting. “We’re still far away from being done.”
Several SALT lawmakers insisted during that session that increasing the cap to $25,000 wouldn’t suffice, although they’ve said this for weeks. A handful of members tossed out different cap numbers, mainly as examples of the relief they’re pushing for rather than tangible offers.
There are also divisions within the SALT group, on both the cap number and the marriage penalty. Currently, the $10,000 cap applies to all tax filers, so married couples are worse off.
These New Yorkers are not going to fold easily. Lifting this cap is a political imperative for members like Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and LaLota. And Republicans are nowhere in these negotiations.
Medicaid. GOP moderates concerned about the potential for deep Medicaid cuts met with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) on Wednesday. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) said afterward they’re “making progress.”
Vulnerable Republicans have been pushing Energy and Commerce to back off of several Medicaid proposals, saying the proposed cuts go too far. While Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said many of his concerns have been resolved, Medicaid per capita caps remains as one outstanding problem.
And Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) is sticking to his red line of only supporting $500 billion in Medicaid cuts. That number would include work requirements and eligibility checks, Bacon told reporters.
“For them to do any more, they’re going to have to prove it doesn’t hurt people’s health care or hospitals,” Bacon said.
Energy and Commerce is set to markup on May 7. The panel’s Republicans will meet again Thursday morning.
SNAP. The House Agriculture Committee and the White House are hashing out what to do about SNAP. The panel is tasked with finding $230 billion in cuts.
The committee wants to know what feedback the Trump administration has on SNAP policies before fully backing a proposal. The big issue is how to avoid cutting benefits — which Chair GT Thompson (R-Pa.) has said he won’t do — as well as the cost-sharing proposal that many members don’t like.
Bacon has an easy answer to this problem: reduce the scale of cuts GOP leaders want from the food stamps program.
“They need to lower the $230 [billion] to $100 [billion],” Bacon said.
Cost-sharing is Thompson’s preferred choice, at least if it’s that or slashing nutrition benefits. Thompson doesn’t want to see any rollbacks to the Thrifty Food Plan.
Yet cost-sharing causes problems for some members. Bacon opposes it, saying it would hurt Nebraska. Thompson acknowledges the White House isn’t a fan of that approach either.
Top Trump administration officials say they want the House and Senate to finish all action on reconciliation by July 4th. At this point, it’s hard to see that happening.
