One thing became apparent during the recent federal debt ceiling debate between Congress and the White House: Louisiana District 6 Congressman Garret Graves has emerged as a top negotiator in those budget talks. LSU political science professor Robert Hogan says he is somewhat surprised to see Graves in the middle of such critical negotiations, given his congressional background…:
“Given he isn’t someone who is part of the leadership team, or holds a major leadership role as a chair of a major budgetary or financial committee.”
Graves has been involved in discussions on raising the federal debt ceiling, and whether to cut spending (as the GOP wants) or fund some white House and Democrat priorities. Hogan says the Baton Rouge congressman has qualities that make his presence welcome at the negotiating table…and he has the trust of House speaker Kevin McCarthy…:
“Garret Graves has been a big supporter of McCarthy. A lot of politics comes down to trust; people you can believe in and you think will do right when the stakes are very high.”
Hogan characterizes Graves as legitimately conservative, but moderate enough for more progressive members of Congress to feel comfortable with…:
“He’s someone who’s been aligned very closely with Trump and Trump voters. He also doesn’t have a lot of the ‘baggage’ and doesn’t say a lot of the sometimes outrageous statements that members of the Republican Party have said.”
Meanwhile Graves continues to negotiate, as a new deadline of June 5th looms for resolving the issues of spending and raising the debt ceiling.
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