Medicaid, SALT, & SNAP Debates Threaten Trump Agenda As Reconciliation Deadline Looms

As House Republicans race to pass President Trump’s sweeping domestic policy package, serious internal divisions remain unresolved, casting doubt over whether the party can meet its own ambitious deadlines.

Speaker Mike Johnson has set a tight three-week window to pass a massive reconciliation bill intended to enact the core of Trump’s economic agenda. Yet as of May 1, lawmakers remain deadlocked on several of the package’s most contentious provisions, from tax policy to cuts in federal safety-net programs.

“We’re working through each of the final issues,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Punchbowl News, acknowledging that the package is “coming down the wire” even as four committees have already advanced their legislative proposals. Behind the scenes, however, critical components of the legislation remain in flux.

Major Tax Questions Still Unanswered

Nowhere is the uncertainty more apparent than in the House Ways and Means Committee, where the $4.5 trillion tax section of the package remains in limbo. A formal markup has not been scheduled, though May 8 is being discussed as a target date, Punchbowl reports.

One of the most intractable issues is the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. Several Republican lawmakers from high-tax states, especially New York, are pressing for the $10,000 cap to be lifted or substantially increased. Speaker Johnson met Wednesday with members of the SALT Caucus to gather “final feedback” before a new cap is finalized.

But lawmakers involved in the talks described them as far from conclusive. “We’re still far away from being done,” said Representative Nick LaLota, Republican of New York. Proposals to raise the cap to $25,000 have failed to unify the group, and disagreements persist over how to address the so-called marriage penalty, which currently imposes the same cap on joint filers as on single taxpayers.

For GOP reps like LaLota and Mike Lawler, also of New York, resolving the SALT issue is politically non-negotiable.

Medicaid Cuts Draw Moderate Resistance

Similar discord surrounds proposed Medicaid changes. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee continue to deliberate over how to achieve $880 billion in savings, a task that has sparked pushback from centrist members concerned about the scale of potential cuts.

Representative Juan Ciscomani of Arizona said talks were “making progress” following a meeting with Committee Chair Brett Guthrie. Still, disagreements remain, particularly over proposals to impose per capita caps on Medicaid spending – a sticking point for members like Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, who supports no more than $500 billion in total reductions.

“For them to do any more,” Mr. Bacon said, “they’re going to have to prove it doesn’t hurt people’s health care or hospitals.”

Energy and Commerce is scheduled to hold a markup on May 7, with Republicans on the panel meeting again Thursday morning to try to bridge remaining divides.

Food Stamp Reform in Flux

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has also emerged as a flashpoint. The House Agriculture Committee is under pressure to find $230 billion in savings but has yet to finalize a plan.

Chair Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania is opposed to cutting benefits and instead favors a cost-sharing model that would shift more of the financial burden to states. However, that idea has drawn criticism from both the White House and within the Republican conference.

Mr. Bacon has suggested a simpler solution: scale back the required savings. “They need to lower the $230 [billion] to $100 [billion],” he said.

Mr. Thompson has signaled that he does not want to see changes to the Thrifty Food Plan, a government benchmark for SNAP benefit levels. But the path forward remains unclear as Republicans weigh political risks and the Trump administration awaits feedback on key proposals.

Clock’s ticking guys…

Trump administration officials have indicated they want Congress to complete the reconciliation process by July 4. Yet with major pieces of the package still unresolved, that deadline appears increasingly difficult to meet.

The current impasse reflects a broader challenge facing House Republicans: how to reconcile ideological differences within their own ranks while moving forward on a sprawling policy package. Each committee’s internal debate has created ripple effects, complicating the broader legislative effort.

The coming weeks will test whether the Republican leadership can align its members around the former president’s agenda – or whether the reconciliation effort will stall under the weight of unresolved conflicts.