‘Jewish Space Laser Lady’: Lawler Hits Back as MTG Attacks on Trump’s Bill

It’s far from rare for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, or MTG, (R-GA) to get into a spat with a fellow lawmaker- and it’s often a fellow Republican.

After all, she once got into a confrontation on the House floor with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and she did not join the effort, during the Biden Administration, by other Republicans to oust Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Last week, there was a confrontation with another fellow Republican, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), as part of the debate in Congress over the SALT cap.

It’s part of the fight in the House over what President Donald Trump calls the “Big Beautiful Bill,” and House Republicans are having trouble marshalling the votes to pass the bill, since different members of the GOP caucus have different interests and deal-breakers, while holding a small majority in the House.

Last week, the bill failed to clear the House Budget Committee, after several Republicans joined all of the Democrats in voting it down. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), and Andrew Clyde (R-GA) all opposed the bill, citing the bill’s spending cuts as insufficient.

After some more negotiating, the bill indeed passed the Budget Committee on Monday.

MTG vs. Lawler

Greene, on X, ripped her fellow Republicans.

“The Freedom Caucus now refuses to vote for the [big] beautiful bill because it doesn’t cut Medicaid enough,” the Georgia Congresswoman said. “This group, Clyde, Roy, Norman, and Brecheen are all in nice red seats and I think they are screwing things up just as badly as RINO Mike Lawler.”

She also accused the members of Congress of insufficient loyalty to Donald Trump.

In the same post, Greene ripped Lawler’s position on the SALT cap, another major point of contention in the “Big Beautiful Bill” negotiations.

“Lawler introduced a bill in 2023 moving SALT caps to $20,000 and now he is a NO on our reconciliation bill because he says our bill raises SALT caps to $30,000 and says that is not enough!,” Greene said of the New York Congressman. “SALT caps at $30,000 is for Lawler’s district allows 93% of his constituents to write off their entire property tax bill.”

Lawler, for his part, struck back at Greene, referencing the “Jewish space lasers” conspiracy theory that she once floated.

“Shockingly the ‘Jewish Space Laser’ lady once again doesn’t have a clue what she is talking about,” Lawler said on X. “By the way, the reason you enjoy a gavel is because Republicans like me have won our seats. Good luck being in the Majority if we don’t.”

What is SALT?

SALT is the state and local tax deduction, which allows taxpayers to subtract some of what they pay in state and local taxes from their federal taxes, and the debate in Washington is about where that deduction should be capped. During Trump’s first term, the cap was put in place at $10,000, described by Bloomberg News as “ the first across-the-board cap on the deduction in its history.”

Lawler, a Republican who represents a blue state with high state and local taxes, has been a leader in increasing that cap, along with several other Republicans who represent New York. One recent version of the bill raised the cap to $30,000, but Lawler and his colleagues have pushed to place it even higher, threatening to vote against the bill — and possibly dooming it — if it’s not raised to their liking.

Republicans who represent lower-income, lower-tax areas are less sympathetic to that narrative, however.

Lawler, last week, wrote a Wall Street Journal letter to the editor, vowing not to “give in” on the SALT cap, and responding to a previous WSJ op-ed taking the opposite position.

“New York is a donor state, receiving less money back than it sends to the federal government in tax revenue. Republicans from blue states such as New York, California, and New Jersey were instrumental in delivering the Republican Party its majority in the 119th Congress,” Lawler wrote. “The Corleone treatment won’t work on me: I won’t be ignored and will keep President Trump’s promise to restore SALT deductions.”

About the Author: Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.