Texas Representative Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee and the chief driver of the 2017 tax cut law, said he would retire from Congress at the end of this term.
“I am retiring as your congressman. This term, my 13th, will be my last,” Brady said Wednesday at the event in his district for The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce.
Brady, 66, led the House Ways and Means panel during the first half of the Trump administration and helped notch victories on former President Donald Trump’s top priorities such as the 2017 tax law and revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement, now known as USMCA. Brady, who took over the committee after Paul Ryan became House Speaker, was a key ally for Trump on policy, though Brady occasionally criticized Trump’s tone on Twitter.
“Given the times, some I’m sure some will say it’s Trump’s fault. That’s how everything works in Washington,” Brady said. “Nonsense. I’m proud to have worked with the president and often with members of both parties to redesign America’s tax code.”
Four other Republicans in the House and five in the Senate have announced they will not seek re-election in 2022, when control of Congress will be decided. Brady, who won his last election with more than 72 percent of the vote, will likely be succeeded by another Republican in his suburban Houston district.
