House Republicans must draw enough red lines to stop President-elect Donald Trump from implementing his agenda.

Some key factions insist that their support is contingent on meeting their demands, even as lawmakers try to reach a consensus on a budget reconciliation package which will be the main legislative vehicle for Trump’s agenda.

Rep. Michael Lawler, along with his fellow New York Republicans, will meet with President Trump to make their case for raising the limit on the deduction of state and local taxes from federal income tax, or SALT. This is to keep pace with the rising cost of living in states with high taxes.

He said: “I won’t support a bill which does not raise the SALT cap.”

Debt hawks within the House Freedom Caucus have set another redline by calling for steep cuts in spending.

The Washington Times quoted Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison as saying, “I try not to have any red lines.” “But I’ll say that if they are going to be dishonest about spending cuts and we won’t be making spending cuts, then I won’t be happy.” “I won’t be supporting it.”

The other House Republicans ridiculed their colleagues’ legislative demands.

The Times quoted Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon as saying: “People have already drawn red lines. Shame on them.” These guys don’t play ball. “They play solitaire.”

The margins are thin in both chambers and any loss in support could undermine Republican plans to quickly move on their ambitious agenda, without the assistance of Democrats, because the filibuster proof reconciliation process allows.

At a weekend meeting at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, groups of House Republicans have taken their demands to him.

In 2017, the SALT cap was implemented to offset the costs of Trump’s tax cuts. This provision, along with other tax breaks for individuals and small business, expires this year.

Mr. Lawler is hoping that Mr. Trump will keep his campaign promise of raising the cap.

Lawler has made a statement with his legislation, introduced this week, to raise the cap on SALT deductions to $100,000 for individual filers and to $200,000 for joint filers. The Committee for Responsible Federal Budget estimates that this would result in $920 billion of lost tax revenue, on top of $3.9 trillion of cost to extend the Trump tax cuts.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (New York Republican) was more willing to compromise in SALT. She compared trying to change SALT to twisting the Rubik’s Cube.

Malliotakis explained that “if you change one thing it will affect everything else.” “It’s just a matter of trying to find a compromise that will satisfy both the SALT members and everyone else at the conference.”

Support for lifting SALT cap comes mainly from lawmakers in high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California.

Kevin Cramer (North Dakota Republican) said that he disliked the SALT deduction because it allowed wealthy people to claim deductions for their second and third home. He would prefer to keep the $10,000 limit, but said that it wouldn’t be a deal breaker.

Hard-liners on the spending front have said that they will not support House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to raise the debt ceiling without major spending reductions.

The government is looking at spending cuts of $2.5 trillion over the next decade, along with an increase in borrowing limits expected to be $1.5 trillion.

These figures are a result of a tentative agreement reached between House Republicans in December and Trump’s key advisers to temporarily quell the revolt against Mr. Johnson’s government funding extension, which would have extended debt limits for two years with no spending cuts.

Senate Republicans were more reluctant to issue specific demands at this point.

The Times quoted Sen. Cynthia M. Lummis (Republican, Wyoming) as saying, “I do not want to draw red lines.” “I want to do as much as I can to reduce inflation and get our country and economy moving again.”

Many Senate Republicans want to increase defense spending, which could be in conflict with deficit-hawks from the House.

The Times quoted Sen. John Hoeven (North Dakota Republican) as saying, “We’ve addressed military [spending] – and the top line – because Democrats always try to bring down the military line unless they can get more from the nonmilitary side.” As an appropriator I believe that’s very important for us.

In a speech on Wednesday, Senate Majority leader John Thune of South Dakota, a Republican, outlined the reconciliation priorities for his conference and mentioned defense expenditure.

He said, “We are working to improve military readiness in order to restore American strength and deter our enemies. We also want peace.”

Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican senator, told The Times border security, and the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cut to “make them larger and bolder”, are “must-haves” given the “clear mandate” from voters on these issues. He refused to identify specific provisions as redlines, but he said that several were currently being debated.

Some Senate Republicans, including those who support tax cuts, have their own priorities but would not call them redlines.

Hoeven said that he wanted to find a solution to making small and individual tax cuts permanent. This was something Republicans were unable to achieve in 2017 because they had Senate rules to follow, which prevents reconciliation legislation from increasing the deficit beyond the 10-year budget window. This is why many of Trump’s tax cuts will expire by the end of 2018.

Mr. Hoeven suggested that one possible solution would be to extend existing provisions in the law, thereby reducing costs.

Mr. Cramer expressed his hope that Republicans would revive an idea left on the table by the Republicans in 2017: the reduction of the seven income tax brackets. He said it’s not a deal-breaker for him.

He said that the best outcome for the tax bill would be to pass something.