As House Republican leaders charted the course to pass the biggest legislation of President Trump’s second term through the special reconciliation process, Brett Horton, chief of staff to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), stood out: He’d done it before.
“At some point I think I looked around the room in our daily leadership meeting and realized that Steve and I are the only two people in the room who are around in that particular setting making those decisions, making those suggestions to the Speaker, from the last reconciliation,” Horton said. “Steve and I, we went through it with health care, went through the first Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That class of staff have all gone, so it’s kind of a unique position.”
Horton has worked for Scalise for 15 years, and has been his chief of staff for the last 10 — helping the now-majority leader rise through the leadership ranks from chair of the Republican Study Committee to being elected GOP majority whip in a whirlwind leadership election in 2014, after former Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) lost his primary and exited Congress.
The first go-round with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the reconciliation bill from Trump’s first term, taught Republicans the dangers of a lack of preparation — with no work starting until after inauguration. This time, Horton, Scalise, and others started talking to GOP members about what eventually turned into the “One Big Beautiful Bill” far before the 2024 election.
While this year’s reconciliation bill was a major career achievement, Horton is also proud of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill that passed in 2015, creating a fast-track authority to approve trade agreements. Republicans were hesitant to approve something that then-President Obama wanted, but GOP leaders argued it would help a Republican in the White House.
It was a tough legislative lift, with House Democratic leadership opposing the bill — but it got across the finish line, and Trump later used TPA in his first term for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that replaced NAFTA.
Horton has not only stayed with Scalise a long time, but he’s built a culture where other talented staff want to stick around, too.
“I work for a great member. I have great teammates,” Horton said of his longevity in his position. “What we do here, it’s important, and it’s also just fun and fascinating and fast-paced.”
