Texas congressman is hailed as era’s Reagan
WASHINGTON — Like every chairman who has led the Ways and Means Committee — often called the most powerful force in the House — U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady’s likeness will forever watch over the room where he spearheaded reforms that have lowered income taxes for virtually every American, a career-defining feat.
It’s what distinguishes The Woodlands Republican, whose official portrait was unveiled at a ceremony as he prepares to retire at the end of the year, from many of the others whose images hang alongside his.
“All these chairmen in all these portraits would be very proud to associate with Kevin,” California Rep. Kevin Mccarthy, the top Republican in the
House, told a packed crowd at the unveiling. “They all tried to do a lot of things. But very few of the portraits would be able to say — even though they had the power for tax reform — who
could ever get it passed?”
Brady, the lead author of the first overhaul of the tax code in three decades, has thrived in Congress in a way few do. The tax law is by far the biggest piece of Brady’s legacy on the committee, and his colleagues say his ability to get it through Congress — even a Congress controlled by his party — is an example of how effective he was from one of the most sought-after posts in the House. But Brady also oversaw major trade deals, including the Us-mexico-canada Agreement; negotiated an end to the 40-year ban on selling U.S. crude oil overseas; worked on a law to end surprise medical billing.
And since he was first elected to Congress in 1996, Brady has reveled in the traditions of the institution that some of his Republican colleagues see as The Swamp.
He has played in every congressional baseball game for the last 25 years, going into his final game with a .360 batting
average and three MVP titles under his belt. He was starting second baseman Thursday night as the Republicans beat the Democrats 10-0.
“Whether he’s holding a gavel at the committee or a bat on the baseball field like he will tonight, he’s always been a happy warrior,” Mccarthy said. “He’s been the Ronald Reagan and the Jack Kemp of our generation.”
Brady, a traditional probusiness conservative who proudly recounts how his time on the baseball field has helped build friendships enabling him to work across the aisle on major legislation, is leaving Congress as partisanship hits an all-time high. New members, many from his own party, have railed against the institution of the House and its customs. And some of the GOP’S highest-profile figures are increasingly souring on the party’s longstanding support for major corporations, a cornerstone of Brady’s approach over the years.
“He comes from a simpler time, one might say,” said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
$1,670 saved on taxes
Henson said the “overarching idea” of the House, a 435-member legislative body with new members constantly shuffling in and out, is that “you’re inducing compromise and you’re inducing some level of transactional behavior that is built into the process.
“Calling it transactional behavior makes it sound bad, but this is where you’re supposed to trade with people, you’re supposed to compromise, and that is facilitated by a certain level of collegiality. Things like a baseball game,” Henson said. “That model has been increasingly demonized by what you might think of as the no-compromise wing of the Republican party.”
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, the Massachusetts Democrat who currently chairs the Ways and Means Committee, described Brady as a “good partner and a real friend.”
“More and more people who have gotten elected to Congress over the time we’ve been in Congress, they got into Congress by running against Congress,” Neal said. “There’s a diminishing number on both sides who would see the institution of the committee and the House the way we would see it.”
Neal said mutual respect is in short supply, and many members have forgotten that “social media posts are not governance.”
Brady, who leaves office at the end of the year, expressed more optimism.
“My experience is that partisanship ebbs and flows. It can be harsh for a period — and it has been this past year and a half,” he said. “Those dark clouds don’t always last, and I’m convinced that Congress at its heart is more bipartisan than not, that many of the best solutions are reached through common ground.”
Brady’s biggest achievement, however, was a partisan one.
Democrats railed against the tax bill for benefiting the wealthy most of all, as well as adding up to $2 trillion to the federal debt.
The law cut taxes for everyone. On average, it saved Texas taxpayers $1,670, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.
But the top earners saved much more than the lowest-income Americans. The analysis found that the wealthiest 20 percent saved $7,640, while the lowest earners saved just $60.
Republicans, meanwhile, say the tax law was a boon for the economy, lowering taxes for individuals and businesses, creating jobs and lifting wages.
“It’s difficult, it only happens once in a generation, but it succeeded just as we hoped,” Brady said. “We worked to create a tax code built for growth of the economy, jobs and paychecks, and we achieved exactly that. I think it’s one of the reasons we rebounded more strongly from the pandemic, at least in 2020 and early 2021.”
Experts, however, say its real effects remain unclear, largely because the pandemic hit so soon after it went into effect.
‘Kept our word’
Job growth and wages were already rising before the tax law went into place, and didn’t appear to be significantly affected in the two years after, said Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center
“There’s no argument to be made about the magnitude of it. It was a big deal, a big legislative deal,” Gleckman said. “The question is, was it a big deal for the economy? And there, I would argue it accomplished much less than its promoters claimed it would.”
Mccarthy, who served as House majority leader when Republicans were pushing the tax bill, said even with control of the chamber, it was a difficult bill to get passed.
“It’s not just that you pass it in committee, you have to work with the entire conference,” Mccarthy said. “No matter what the member asked for, he would listen to she or he and he would say, ‘That was a very good point. Let me see if I can work it out.’
“So many times on a huge bill, it collapses time and again and again,” he said. “And only a true legislator stays with it and finds a solution.”
Brady wasn’t just meeting with Republicans. He sat down with Neal the morning before the House passed the bill. The Republicans had the votes to pass the bill, it was clear. Neal said he was “pretty assertive” about his opposition to the bill and Brady was equally assertive about his support for it, but “we didn’t let it get in the way of a policy discussion.”
Neal asked that Brady work to make sure the legislation wouldn’t strip existing tax credits for lowincome housing, businesses in low-income neighborhoods and credits aimed at preserving historic buildings.
“I could see that he was a a little bit uncertain, but miraculously the three of those preferences stayed in the code afterwards,” Neal said. “I always thought no matter what else happened in course of our relationship, the two of us always kept our word.”