WASHINGTON — He was never elected to House leadership. He is not a committee chair, nor is he part of the key committees that oversee the US budget.
But Rep. Garrett Graves, R-Los Angeles, has been handpicked by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for one of the most important tasks facing House Republicans: striking a deal with President Joe Biden. this month to avoid a potentially disastrous debt default.
Colleagues say Graves, who began his career as a longtime House and Senate staffer, is a Capitol insider and policy expert who understands the institution and how bipartisan deals are made. And they describe him as an «honest broker» who is trusted not only by McCarthy, R-Calif., but also by the various factions of the Republican Party Conference, known as «five families.”
McCarthy has leaned on Graves since the very beginning of his presidency in January, giving him a place in the House leadership that did not require the election of his fellow Republicans.
And in March, McCarthy appointed Graves to broker peace between far-right Republicans and moderates and craft a package that would raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending and repealing parts of Biden’s agenda.
At the time, McCarthy’s decision caused some head-scratching, even derision, within the House GOP. «What other speaker in history has outsourced debt ceiling negotiations to a random basis?» joked a top Republican aide.
But on April 26, the House passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act on a party-line basis, and by a single vote, allowing Republicans to lay their ground in the showdown with Biden. Since then, McCarthy has tasked Graves with leading negotiations for House Republicans along with congressional advisers and senior White House officials.
McCarthy praised Graves when asked about his role on Wednesday.
“He’s worked with all the different groups, and he’s really been the person who helped bring people together in the making of the Limit, Save, Grow bill. So he has a clear idea of where the members are,” McCarthy said.
“He is a former staff member. He is a former member who works in the government,” McCarthy continued. «He understands politics, many people would call him a political expert.»
‘An honest broker’
Reporters have watched Graves pull sheet after sheet of data printouts, bill texts and budget projections out of his jacket pocket, like a magician pulling out scarves, to support talking points during policy discussions. And at a news conference in his office last week, he hinted at where the negotiations were headed, outlining four policy areas on which Republicans and the White House could reach an agreement.
On Wednesday, Graves was seen walking back and forth between bipartisan negotiations and the president’s office as McCarthy spoke nearby at the unveiling of former President Paul Ryan’s portrait. Graves declined to comment on the ongoing talks.
Asked if Graves is empowered to make decisions on his behalf, McCarthy said: “Yes. We talk very often. I enter the room too. So I think if the administration can make decisions without the president being around, we’ll be fine.»
The appointment of chief negotiators by Biden and McCarthy this week marks a new and more serious phase of the debt ceiling talks as the clock ticks down on the June 1 deadline, when the secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said the US could run out of money to pay its debts. bills.
In Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting with congressional leaders, Biden chose three top White House advisers to negotiate on his behalf: budget director Shalanda Young, adviser Steve Ricchetti and chief legislative liaison Louisa Terrell. . McCarthy chose Graves and his outgoing chief of staff, Dan Meyer.
young too comes from the Graves district in southern Louisiana, and the two have a relationship that developed during previous discussions about hurricane protection, coastal restoration and flood control issues in the state.
“Garret is exceptionally qualified, because he is trusted by the various factions within the conference. He is an honest runner and he certainly has the trust of Chairman McCarthy,” said Rep. Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican who, like Graves, is a member of the Republican Study Committee, or RSC, the largest bloc of conservatives on Hill. of the Capitol.
«When it comes to any of these groups, whether it’s Main Street [Caucus], Tuesday Group, Freedom Caucus, RSC: The important thing is: Are you going to be a person of your word, are you going to be a man of your word? And Garrett has consistently done that,” Cammack said.
Centrist Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, said: “Garrett is … trustworthy, level-headed and a good listener. If he has enemies, I don’t know who they are.
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., a McCarthy skeptic and member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, said he «has no reason not to trust Congressman Graves.»
«He’s been a key resource, an ally, a lieutenant to President McCarthy for the last six months,» Good said in an interview Wednesday night. “And I think it’s been helpful in bringing the conference together on the legislation that we passed and bringing disparate points of view. to unite towards our shared objectives and common goals».
‘eye to eye’
Since his election to Congress in 2014, Graves has kept a relatively low profile in Congress. Instead of trying to build a national brand, he put his head down, dove into the work of the Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure committees and focused on policy issues, specifically energy, which is the lifeblood of Louisiana.
Energy policy has become central to the debt talks, as Republicans demand that allowing reform be part of any bipartisan deal.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Los Angeles, who Graves succeeded in the House, called him a «talented» and «nice guy» who has «obviously fallen into favor» with McCarthy. Cassidy expressed some disappointment that Graves voted no on the major infrastructure package he negotiated in 2021, but said they mostly work well together on things like flood insurance and disaster relief.
“Obviously, our interests diverged a bit. He voted against the infrastructure bill and I voted for it, so there’s not always complete timing there,» Cassidy said in an interview. «And of course the infrastructure bill is amazing for my state… But as a rule of thumb, we pretty much agree.»
In 2019, McCarthy named Graves the top Republican on the House Climate Crisis Committee, a Democratic effort that didn’t get much attention. And before this year, Graves had been dwarfed by two other powerful Louisiana House Republicans: Majority Leader Steve Scalise and GOP conference vice chair Mike Johnson, both former chairs of the Republican Study Committee.
But even before Graves became a member of Congress, he had gained a thorough understanding of both ends of the Capitol. He was an assistant to the then representative. Billy Tauzin, R-La., both in his personal office and when Tauzin was chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He also worked as an aide on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
“I think you understand the inner workings of the House. He has a good pulse on our conference and the political dynamics,” said Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., another Republican Study Committee colleague. «He is a former staff member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and has immense knowledge of his experience as a staff member and his leadership on energy issues, his leadership on transportation issues.»
A Democrat who has worked alongside Graves on the Transportation and Infrastructure panel called him a serious lawmaker who is not interested in scoring political points in the media.
“He takes the legislation seriously and is willing to listen to the argument if you disagree initially. His views are conservative, but he knows we have to move on,” said Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, the top Democrat on Transportation. and Infrastructure.
«He’s a serious dealmaker and he’s definitely not interested in the sound bite.»