One of the Republican House majority’s most vulnerable members called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in an escalating civil war.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) has been insisting on substantially raising the deduction on so-called SALT taxes – state and local taxes – as Republicans try to pass the “big, beautiful bill” sought by president Donald Trump, and debate on the issue has pitted swing-state GOP lawmakers who represent wealthier areas against rural Republicans who represent less affluent rural districts, reported Politico.

“They have a very myopic view of New York and California,” said Lawler, when asked about his red-state colleagues.

Lawler represents a district outside New York City with median income of $119,000, which is basically double the median income of $60,000 in the Missouri district represented by Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith, whose opposition to raising the SALT deduction from $10,000 to $30,000 has “exposed the raw class fissures in the House GOP,” according to Politico’s Jonathan Martin.

“In the districts that determine the control of Congress — because there’s really only about 35 districts that are actually competitive — the fact is that it’s districts like mine that determine that outcome,” Lawler told Martin.

Lawler noted that House speaker Mike Johnson, who represents rural north Louisiana, seems to have a better understanding of districts like his than some other members, but he said Smith and other red-state lawmakers don’t understand what his constituents want or need.

“No, I don’t think Jason does, frankly,” said Lawler, adding that Smith boasts “about how he has the lowest SALT district in the country.”

Lawler said the president, who spent most of his life in New York City, has assured him that he agrees with lifting the SALT cap, but he escalated his public feud with Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom he had mocked this week as the “Jewish space laser lady” after she said the deduction he’s seeking would mostly benefit wealthy Americans.

“The fact is somebody like Marjorie Taylor Greene is replaceable,” he said. “We will win her seat without a problem if she’s not the candidate. In seats like mine, that’s not the case, and so when she says stupid things like, ‘We don’t need RINOs,’ really? You have no ability to deliver on the president’s agenda if you don’t hold these seats.”

The New Yorker said southern Republicans like Greene need allies from coastal blue states to keep their majority.

“Unlike in 2017, where the Republicans had a big majority that could allow them to disregard the opinions of people like me and pass a bill that capped SALT at $10,000, they can’t do that this time,” Lawler said.