On his own, Graves began talking to the different factions and reporting his findings back to McCarthy.
National media, bloggers and commentators have portrayed McCarthy’s choice to have Graves run point on the issue – instead of Scalise and the higher-profile leaders who were elected by Republican representatives – as proof of a schism among GOP House leaders.
Some Republican representatives and their staffers say that view is overexaggerated.
For one, other speakers have taken a similar route. When they were speakers, Republican Reps. John Boehner from 2011 to 2015 and Paul Ryan from 2015 to 2019 also relied on trusted rank-and-file allies, rather than the elected leaders, to lobby members for their agendas.
McCarthy and Scalise meet weekly and are said to be friendly in private.
“On occasion there are disagreements,” Graves said. “But is there a schism among the leadership team? No.”
Graves added he and Scalise also work well together. So, too, did Scalise praise Graves’ work.
“Any time we can have more members of our delegation like Mike Johnson and Garret Graves involved in leadership meetings, it only strengthens Louisiana’s influence in Washington,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Graves, 51, comes from the Gulf South, where the highest concentration of Republican representatives live. He works on the same issues that congressional members of both parties pursue, particularly energy, roads and highways, and permitting.
A self-described “policy nerd”, Graves came to Capitol Hill in his early 20s and worked as an aide for a dozen years. He was first an aide to U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, then served as a staffer on various House and Senate committees.
Gov. Bobby Jindal brought Graves back to Baton Rouge in 2008 to chair the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. He represented the state in negotiations with BP after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and crude oil leak.
Leave a Reply