‘Mr. SALT’ and N.J. Ally Fight Ocasio-Cortez to Revive Tax Break

A major push by a group of U.S. lawmakers to secure an expansion of the federal deduction for state and local taxes -- which on Monday won inclusion in a critical budget plan -- owes much to a pair of onetime roommates in the nation’s capital.

One, Tom Suozzi, has the nickname “Mr. SALT,” and the other, Josh Gottheimer, is co-chief of a sometime influential bipartisan House group known as the Problem Solvers.

Together, they’ve helped to gather a caucus of 33 representatives battling to remove or raise the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions imposed in the 2017 ...