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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — One week before they are set to unveil a sprawling overhaul of the federal tax code, Republicans struggled on Wednesday with key parts of their plan, reigniting a fight over retirement savings and racing to cut a deal with lawmakers from high-tax states ahead of a critical budget vote in the House on Thursday. The challenges — and the dogged effort to resolve them on Capitol Hill — highlight the increased importance of the tax issue for a fractured party desperate for a legislative victory. The prospect of a once-in-a-generation bill to cut taxes on businesses and individuals increasingly appears to be the best hope for a party anxious to find common ground and advance an effort that it has long championed as the pinnacle of Republican orthodoxy. It is a bit like having a baby to save a failing marriage. But, like a crying newborn, the drafting of the bill is already costing party leaders sleep. That was evidenced on Wednesday, when President Trump and a top House Republican sparred over whether the plan would include sharp reductions in how much Americans might save, before taxes, in 401(k) accounts. Meanwhile, congressional leaders worked to forge a compromise on state and local tax deductions that could be necessary for the House to pass a budget measure that is needed to ensure the tax bill does not fall to a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. Republicans from states where the state and local tax — or SALT — deduction is widely used were not m... Link to the full article to read more