Fox host calls out “Blue state Republicans” for questioning Trump's tax agenda
Charles Payne: “You and your fellow Blue state Republicans are prepared to torpedo the entire package if you don't get something on this.”
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From the January 13, 2025, edition of Fox News' Your World
CHARLES PAYNE (GUEST HOST): Let’s get right to New York Republican congressman Mike Lawler. He was at Mar-a-Lago, we saw the photographs of you, representative. And, this is a very contentious situation. You just heard [Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)], who's adamantly opposed to this, and he's not the only one in your party. What are you saying to them when they are saying, “Hey, we are supposed to be cutting two trillion and cutting things not adding”?
REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Well, first of all, if no tax bill passes [SALT, the State and Local Tax deduction] comes back unlimited. However, it would be accompanied by the largest tax increase in American history, rates would go up, the alternative minimum tax would come back. So, it's incumbent upon everyone on all sides of the equation to negotiate in good faith. The fact is, often times people talk about SALT as that they don't want to subsidize Blue states. Well, states like New York are donor states. We send more tax revenue to the federal government than we receive back. So SALT is a function of avoiding double taxation.
Yes, I agree the leadership in New York is terrible. Governor Hochul is an absolute failure and needs to be replaced in 2026. But New York taxpayers should not be penalized with double taxation by the federal government. To say somehow this is, “Oh, we're losing revenue.” Well, the fact is the cap on SALT was nothing more than a pay-for for other provisions within the tax bill. So, as we renegotiate a new tax bill moving forward, I and my New York, California, and New Jersey colleagues have made it clear we're not going to support a tax bill that doesn't lift the cap on SALT. We understand it's a negotiation. We understand that we’re going to have to work through the numbers.
PAYNE: What are the provisions, what are the pay-fors, then, that you’re suggesting?
LAWLER: Well, again, they used SALT as a pay-for in the last tax bill. There are a number of provisions that we're going to work through. [The House Committee on Ways and Means] is coming up with what potential pay-fors there are as part of this new tax bill negotiation. But what we are saying is that $10,000 cap on SALT is unacceptable.
The fact is, I can tell you my district — Westchester County, Rockland County — we have the highest property taxes in America. That's before we get to state taxes, income taxes. So, I can tell you a house like mine — 2000 square foot home — I'm paying over $15,000 in property taxes.
PAYNE: I live in New Jersey, I pay close to 50,000. Let me just jump in because it sounds like, though, you will torpedo the entire Trump package if you don't get what you want. You and your fellow Blue state Republicans are prepared to torpedo the entire package if you don't get something on this.
LAWLER: Well, first of all you hear somebody like Chip Roy basically saying if they don't get requisite cuts, they're going to vote against the bill. So the fact is everybody can say they’re not going to support it if they don't get A, B, and C. All of us have to work together as a team. We are negotiating in good faith to put together a package —
PAYNE: Representative Lawler, let me bring one other thing up then, because you're running out of time. Listen, you and I, we complain about these taxes, but folks in these other states that might actually have a deficit, in terms of the taxes that they send to D.C. are saying, “These are tax laws that the state themselves put in. Why should the national taxpayer bear the burden of the fact that these states are so irresponsible that their taxes only go higher and higher and higher and that their deficits only go higher, higher, and higher? Why should the rest of the nation have to pay for that?”
LAWLER: Well, when the federal government is sending more to many of the states than taxes they receive, I can make the opposite argument. And, to me the fundamental point is all of us have a responsibility to negotiate in good faith, come up with a tax bill that provides real relief to middle class and working families. That is what my objective is, I will work tirelessly with President Trump. And by the way, in our meeting, President Trump agreed with us –– we need to lift the cap on SALT. He fundamentally agrees it was a harmful decision to New York, to California, to New Jersey. Yes those states are severely mismanaged. Yes, we need to change course in them. We agree with that. But we should not be penalizing the taxpayers of those states.