Republican disagrees

Top Senate Republican disagrees with Trump over reversing cap on some tax deductions

From CNN’s Ted Barrett

Senate Minority Whip John Thune said he disagrees with former President Donald Trump’s call to reverse a cap on state and local tax deductions (SALT), something that hit blue states hard and was part of a 2017 tax bill up for renewal next year.

Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said the changes to SALT were used to offset the price tag of the 2017 tax bill and will be needed for the same reason in 2025.

“That was a big pay-for in 2017 and there will be a lot of, certainly, pushback from some of our members who think that subsidizing the high tax states isn’t a good idea,” Thune told reporters in the Capitol.

Trump and congressional Republicans included the so-called SALT cap, which limits Americans’ ability to deduct state and local taxes on their federal returns to $10,000, in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a way to pay for other tax cuts in the law. It largely affects higher-income people in high-tax blue states who itemize their deductions, but its unpopularity has led some GOP representatives in those states to call for its elimination as the party seeks to hold onto the House in this year’s election.

“I’m a supporter of what we did in ’17 and would like to see it extended,” Thune said when asked about his personal position on the issue.