Powerful Tax-Writing Panels to Lose Experience After Midterms

High-profile retirements and competitive elections among senior tax writers will likely give the House Ways and Means Committee a new look next Congress.

Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), and David Schweikert (R-Ariz.)—all longtime members of the powerful panel that drives major legislation on taxes, trade, and health care—will be departing, meaning the loss of decades of experience.

If Democrats retake the House in November’s elections, as they hope, they could add about 10 new members, since the current makeup of 19 Democrats and 26 Republicans would flip.

“They will be sorely missed,” Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said of her departing Democratic colleagues. But, she added, their retirements present an opportunity for new faces “to show their talent and expertise.”

Three Ways and Means Democrats and five Republicans so far announced they won’t be back in the House next Congress, and others are in competitive districts or face serious primary challengers.

The Senate Finance Committee, the chamber’s counterpart to Ways and Means, only has three members who have announced their plans to retire. But several panel members, including Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), are seeking governorships or face tough re-election battles.

“Anytime we lose a good member, whether it’s on committee or across the Republican conference, I kind of feel like there’s been a death in the family,” said Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), one of only a few remaining GOP Ways and Means members elected before 2015.

Shaping Priorities

Though some subcommittee leaders are departing Ways and Means, the current Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) are expected to return.

But if Democrats win the House, as they are hoping to, Smith and Neal would swap titles.

New Democrats on the committee could bring fresh ideas to the panel about how to address constituents’ concerns about affordability, said Evan Giesemann, a senior manager at EY’s Washington Council practice and former congressional Democratic aide. And they could begin laying down legislative markers for what Democrats could include in a party-line package using the expedited reconciliation process if they regain full control of Washington after the 2028 elections, he said.

If lawmakers want to move major tax legislation, they will have to lean on a shrinking pool of legislators with long institutional memories. Just three GOP members on the panel when the 2017 Republican tax overhaul passed Congress are expected to remain in 2027. And though many members worked on last year’s tax-and-spending law, a large portion of that legislation was crafted by extending portions of the legislation from Trump’s first term.

It’s not just important legislative knowledge that will change, the issues that may get attention could change too. Doggett, for instance, has been one of the most prominent progressives on the panel and pushed for Democrats to obtain Trump’s tax returns—a move that was ultimately successful. Buchanan, meanwhile, has been a big advocate for passthrough businesses.

Chris Arneson, a principal at S-3 Group and former aide to Senate Finance Democrats, said having a position on the committee can lead to boosting interest in a particular priority. He pointed to legislation aimed at curbing abusive transactions involving syndicated conservation easements that had been championed by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). It got a higher profile and became law after Daines, who is retiring this year, joined the Finance Committee.

Assistance From Staff

To combat the loss of experience when longtime lawmakers retire, new members can rely on the expertise of committee staff, Arneson said.

“These teams of experts will help new members navigate policy and political challenges to advance their priorities,” he said.

And though both chambers often seem locked in endless partisan battles, tax provisions can sometimes serve as a foundation for bipartisan legislation. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he hopes lawmakers find common ground to solve long-unaddressed tax priorities.

“Everybody wants to hit a home run here,” he said. “But there are all kinds of singles and doubles that we could hit on tax policy that I think would get bipartisan support.” 


Tillis doesn’t regret that he won’t be around to keep working, though. “I’ve done enough,” he said.