Louisiana Republican Rep. Garrett Graves has not been elected to a House leadership post and has not served as a strong chairman. But as an adviser to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who described Mr. Graves as a Republican “assistant coach,” he became a central figure in every major legislative push in the House.
Most recently, that meant playing a leading role in uniting rival Republican conventions in support of a debt ceiling bill in exchange for spending cuts and clarification of key elements of President Biden’s domestic policy.
Graves, 51, a former House employee who was first elected in 2015, now has the enviable task of putting Republicans together behind every deal McCarthy can make with Biden to avoid a catastrophic debt default. there is He is a representative of the so-called Five Tribes within the House Republican Party, representing all ideological perspectives within the party.
In an interview, Mr. Graves expressed optimism about a meeting between Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Biden. But he blamed the president and Democrats for the impasse, sidestepping the fact that it was the Republicans who caused the current impasse by refusing to agree to raise the debt ceiling without significant spending cuts. He accused the White House of “trying to fight a propaganda war” on the debt limit, even as Republicans have also waged their own struggles for months.
Biden has said he will not negotiate with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling, and aides have rejected Republican claims that the current debt run poses a grave threat to economic growth.
Still, with a possible default deadline looming as early as June 1, Graves said four broad areas of negotiation have emerged for a potential budget deal: These are federal spending limits, recovery of unused funds designated as a COVID-19 emergency, and stricter work requirements. For Federal Benefits and Expedited Energy Project Permits.
Graves told The New York Times after spending the morning hopping dinners around the district. It’s a regular tradition, he says, that touches on voters’ concerns and is more important than any poll.
Interviews have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
House Republicans once said they wanted a decade to balance the budget and overhaul the annual budget process. Now you outline some potential cuts, but they are far from completely rethinking how governments are funded. Is this surrender?
From a Negotiation 101 perspective, start with areas where there is common ground of agreement or understanding. Helps build trust. I never said it was the four things we agreed on. That’s the beginning.
No surrender. The President has not proposed anything that could pass the House or Senate. Majority leader Senator Chuck Schumer has nothing to say to the floor. Only the bill is really relevant at this point.
For many fiscally conservative Republicans (some reflexively resist raising the debt ceiling), passage is probably all they want. What are you doing to cope with the expectation that a potential deal with the White House will be much more modest than what they expect and will ultimately vote yes?
It’s hard to say because I can’t tell you what the deal is like. The 4 things we agree on is certainly not the list of all things we would expect.
Second, I don’t want to sit here and negotiate with you. I can’t speak for the president, but read some of the president’s comments during the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations when he agreed to negotiate with Republicans. If he can pick up that mindset again, we can get this done. pretty quickly. What we have proposed is just the beginning, so why not agree?
How do you think this will end?
[Laughter.]
With good intentions on the part of the White House, I am confident this can be accomplished within 48 hours. With the White House trying to fight public relations, I think there needs to be some shift in attitude. We can get this done, and we can do it without causing carnage.
Conversely, if they’re going to try — and I think they’ve softened up a bit — but if they’re going to continue this public relations campaign and say, “We’re not going to negotiate,” this will not end well.
How worried are House Republicans about actually defaulting?
I’ve never heard anyone say they’re scared, and I’ve never heard anyone say, “Hey, I want to default.”
…However, former President Donald J. Trump said at a CNN town hall earlier this week that Republicans should default if they don’t get acceptable spending cuts.
No, I didn’t see it at all. I read the headline. I don’t know exactly what he said or in what context. On our part, I’ve never heard anyone say, “Hey, I want to default” in front of a closed mic. I think we have good intentions on our part.
But there is no doubt that this was a strategic decision by the White House and Democrats to frame the crisis by getting as close to the backstop as possible. That’s why I didn’t hear from you for 97 days. That’s why they said they wouldn’t negotiate. They believed these were tactics to create a crisis, which they believed would give them greater leverage in negotiations.
The problem they have created is that if they default, they own it 100%.
(White House press secretary Andrew Bates said, “House Republicans single-handedly hold millions of jobs, retirement accounts, and businesses hostage unless paid to a growing and extreme ransom list. “And I added, ‘President Biden isn’t demanding anything in exchange for avoiding a default.'”)
What do you want from your meeting with the White House?
Something to raise the debt ceiling. But other than that, the absolute priority is what actually bends the curve. The trajectory we are on now is totally unsustainable. It is a punishment for children and grandchildren.
How did you end up in this role of the so-called convener of the Five Tribes within the Republican Convention?
I thought the speaker’s race was embarrassing. We’re seeing the House fail to really take the lead and start addressing the priorities. No one asked me anything, but I started conversations with different people. Fast forward, we got through it all, and McCarthy said, “Hey, what do you want?”
I said, “I want you to be able to speak well.” He came back and said: “The group of people you have convened should not just be dissolved. It should continue and contribute to the functioning of the House of Commons.” That’s how it evolved.
I don’t want to mislead you and say that everything is perfect and everything is going well. But looking at the points on the board proves that this model works.
Has your view of some of the more extreme members you serve with changed?
I didn’t have incredibly high regard for Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy stepping into this issue. He is one of my best friends now.