Senate's sour SALT

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) says negotiators are nearing a deal that will keep the House-passed $40,000 SALT deduction cap in the Senate's version of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."

Why it matters: The SALT cap is one of several major differences between the House and Senate that need to be resolved if congressional GOP leaders want to meet their July 4 deadline.

• "I wouldn't say an agreement, just an acceptance," Mullin told reporters. "It does it with the income threshold but not the cap."
• The House version phased out the deduction for income above $500,000. The Senate's compromise version will likely lower that threshold.
• "No side is going to be happy, but it's something that we've got to put a number in. We want to get it where it's palatable for both sides, but neither side is going to love it," Mullin said.

Driving the news: Republican senators met tonight to once again hash out priorities for their major piece of legislation — after the Senate parliamentarian took a hatchet to it over the weekend.

• The chamber rule keeper knocked out roughly $300 billion in revenue sources, Mullin estimated, ruling them ineligible under budget reconciliation rules.
• "So, we're grabbing everything we can to make sure we have the deficit cuts," Mullin added.

Zoom in: Agriculture Chair John Bozeman (R-Ark.) explained to senators how he thinks they can work back in cuts on SNAP spending after the parliamentarian declared some of them ineligible for the bill.

• Meanwhile, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got into a heated debate over the AI moratorium provision, with Blackburn arguing to protect songwriters, according to two attendees.

Between the lines: Senators also discussed differences on Medicaid proposals, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) indicating that changes to the federal matching share (FMAP) for new Medicaid enrollees are unlikely to be included in the final bill.

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— Hans Nichols and Stef Kight