Garret Graves, assistant coach of the Republicans, sees hope in debt reduction talks

Representative Garret Graves, Republican of Louisiana, was not elected to a leadership position in the House and does not serve as a powerful committee chair. But as consigliere to Speaker Kevin McCarthy — whom Mr. Graves has described as the GOP “assistant coach” — he has become a central player in every major legislative move in the House.

Most recently, that has meant taking the lead in uniting the fractious GOP conference behind a bill to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts and unraveling key elements of President Biden’s domestic agenda.

A former House staffer who was first elected to Congress in 2015, Mr Graves, 51, now has the unenviable task of rallying Republican members behind whatever deal Mr McCarthy can strike with Mr Biden to prevent a catastrophic default. He is the point of contact for the so-called Five Families within the House GOP, representing the full range of ideological positions within the party.

In an interview, Mr. Graves expressed some optimism about talks between Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Biden. But he blamed the president and Democrats for the stalemate, ignoring the fact that it is Republicans who have caused the current impasse by refusing to agree to raise the debt limit without major cuts. He accused the White House of “trying to have a public relations battle” over the debt limit, even though Republicans have been waging one of their own for months.

Mr Biden says he will not negotiate with Republicans about raising the debt limit, and his aides reject their claim that the debt’s current path poses a significant threat to economic growth.

But with a deadline for a possible default looming as early as June 1, Mr Graves said four broad areas of negotiation have emerged for a possible budget deal: covering federal spending, recovering unused funds earmarked for the Covid emergency, imposing stricter work requirements for federal benefits and expediting permitting for energy projects.

Mr. Graves spoke to The New York Times after a morning of dinner-hopping in his district, an established tradition that he says puts him in touch with his constituents’ concerns and that he values ​​more than any poll.

The interview has been slightly edited and shortened for clarity.

House Republicans once said they wanted to balance the budget in 10 years and review the annual budget process. Now you outline some possible cuts, but they are far from a total rethinking of the way we finance government. Is this a capitulation?

From the perspective of Negotiation 101, you start with areas where you have a common ground agreement or understanding. It helps to build trust. I never said those would be the four things we would agree on. That’s the beginning.

There is no capitulation. The president has not proposed anything that could get through the House or Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Majority Leader, hasn’t put anything on the floor, period. The only thing that really matters now is our bill.

For many fiscally conservative Republicans, some of whom reflexively opposed raising the debt limit, it was probably going as far as they were willing to pass your bill. What are you doing to manage expectations for a possible deal with the White House that is much more modest than what they expect, or are ultimately willing to vote for?

It’s hard to say because I can’t tell you what the deal looks like. The four things we would agree on – that’s certainly not the full list of things we expect.

Number two, I don’t want to sit here negotiating with you. I can’t speak for the president, but go back and read some of his comments about the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations, when he agreed to negotiate with Republicans. If he can just recapture that mindset, then we can pull this off. Fairly quickly. The things we just suggested, why not agree with that?

How do you think this will end?

[Laughter.]

I am confident that if there is goodwill on the part of the White House, it can be done within 48 hours. I do think it will take some change in the White House’s attitude to try and fight a PR battle. We can pull this off, and we can do it without causing a bloodbath.

Conversely, if they’re going to try – and I think they’ve softened up a little bit – but if they’re trying to continue this PR campaign and “we’re not going to negotiate”, this isn’t going to end well.

How concerned are House Republicans about actually defaulting? Is it a real fear, or is it seen as a loaded political talking point?

I haven’t heard anyone say they’re scared, and I haven’t heard anyone say, “Hey, I want to default.”

… Except for former President Donald J. Trump, who said in a CNN town hall earlier this week that Republicans should default the country if they can’t get acceptable cuts.

Well, I didn’t look at that at all. I read a headline; I really don’t know exactly what he said or the context in which he said it. On our part, behind closed doors, in front of microphones, I haven’t heard anyone say, “Hey, I want to default.” I think there are good intentions on our side.

But there is no question that it was a strategic decision by the White House and the Democrats to try and trigger the crisis by getting as close to the backstop as possible. That’s why there were 97 days with no communication, that’s why they said they wouldn’t negotiate. Those were tactics to create the crisis, and they believed it would give them more leverage in the negotiations.

The problem they created themselves is that if there is a defect, they own it 100 percent.

(A White House spokesman Andrew Bates responded, “House Republicans admit they are single-handedly holding millions of jobs, retirement accounts and businesses hostage unless they get a growing list of extreme ransom demands.” He added: “President Biden demands nothing in return for avoiding default.”)

What do you want to get out of these talks with the White House?

Something to raise the debt ceiling. But something else that’s an absolute priority is something that will really bend the curve. The trajectory we are now following is absolutely unsustainable. It is a punishment for children and grandchildren.

How did you get into this role of the appointed convener of the so-called five families within the Republican conference?

I found the speaker’s race embarrassing. Watching the House of Representatives not be able to actually take the reins and start working on priority issues. No one asked me to do anything, but I started having conversations with different people. Fast forward, we’ll all get through that and McCarthy said, “Hey, what do you want?”

I said, “I want you to be a good speaker.” He came back and said, ‘The groups of people you’ve gathered shouldn’t just disappear. That must continue and contribute to the functionality of the home.” That’s how it evolved.

I don’t want to mislead you and tell you that everything is perfect and everything is going well. But looking at points on the board just proves that this model works.

Has it changed your opinion of some of the more extreme members you work with?

I didn’t think incredibly highly of Rep. Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, who went into it. He is now one of my best friends.