President-elect Trump and House Republicans in favor of raising the state-and-local-tax (SALT) deduction cap discussed lifting the debt limit in legislative vehicles other than the "big, beautiful bill" of Trump's policy priorities during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, Rep. Nick Lalota (R-N.Y.) and three other sources told The Hill.

The conversation included discourse about the different ways Congress could increase the debt limit, including through reconciliation — which Republicans could do on their own — or regular order, a process that would require buy-in from Democrats, Lalota and two of the sources said.

Trump did not say what his preferred strategy was, one of the sources said.

"We talked about different mechanisms," Lalota, who was at the Saturday meeting, told The Hill on Sunday. "We did talk about different ways to resolve that challenge, reconciliation and regular order being among."

"We were talking about where it should go," one source, who was at the meeting and requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic, said of the debt limit. "And so we were tossing around ideas."

Another source said some lawmakers suggested putting a debt limit increase in the government funding bill Congress will have to pass by the March 14 shutdown deadline or tying it to disaster aid for the California wildfires -- a move that would dare Golden State Democrats to vote against the needed assistance.

"Some people said put it in the first reconciliation bill, some people [said] put it in the second reconciliation bill, some said put it in the negotiated funding bill that's gonna be in March… there were thoughts about tying it to aid for [Los Angeles], with the fires, all sorts of stuff," the source said.

Three of the sources noted that the discussion about the debt ceiling was a general conversation, not done in great detail, and a brief part of the meeting.

The mere mention of alternative strategies, however, is significant, since Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week said it was his "intention" that the debt limit be increased through the reconciliation process. It........

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