Meet the three Republicans likely to vie for Ryan’s Ways and Means gavel

Ryan, likely to become the new House speaker, was in that position for less than a year, despite seeking it throughout his 16-year career in Congress.

As head of the committee, the Wisconsin Republican was able to shepherd through major legislation, setting the terms for Congress’ approval of the Pacific-nation trade deal negotiated by the president, in addition to reforms to Medicare and other important measures. But he wasn’t able to achieve his overarching goal of comprehensive tax reform in that short window.

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Ryan likely will continue to pursue an overhaul of the tax code as speaker. The detailed and difficult work of organizing legislation, however, will be left to one of the three likely candidates.

All of them share Ryan’s broad vision of lowering tax rates for families and businesses while expanding the tax base by eliminating credits, deductions and other tax preferences. Ryan’s endorsement likely will play a major role in determining the next chairman.

“All three of them have been on the Ryan train to drive the fundamental, comprehensive tax reform,” Bruce Josten, executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Friday. He later added: “These are people who are committed to getting it done.”

Here are the three most likely candidates:

Pat Tiberi

Tiberi, pronounced “tea-berry,” announced that he would run for the post in a tweet sent Thursday night.

Tiberi, who represents a district to the north and east of Columbus, is currently the chairman of the Ways and Means trade subcommittee, and was instrumental in helping Ryan sell the trade promotion authority legislation to Republicans in that role, amid stiff opposition from some conservatives as well as the Left. He was previously the head of the subcommittee on taxes.

While no other Republican speaks for the party on domestic policy issues the way Ryan has in recent years, Tiberi is viewed as one of the more knowledgeable members when it comes to matters of taxation, especially business taxation.

Kevin Brady

Brady, who represents a district north of Houston, is the most senior GOP member on the committee and the head of the subcommittee on health.

The 60-year-old Texan hasn’t said whether he will seek the chairmanship, and his office did respond to an inquiry by the end of Friday.

But he ran unsuccessfully against Ryan for the spot when it opened just months ago, and is expected to run again this time.

Brady doesn’t have the national presence or fundraising ability that Ryan did, but he has lots of experience, most recently also working with Ryan from the committee to pass the trade promotion authority bill.

He also was the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, and has his eye on matters beyond the broad jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee, such as monetary policy. He has pushed especially hard to repeal the estate tax, or death tax as it’s known to conservatives.

Devin Nunes

At 42 years old, Nunes is even younger than Ryan, although he has represented a district in the San Joaquin Valley since 2003.

Nunes’ history with Ryan goes way back. During the drafting of Obamacare, Nunes and Ryan, with former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, drafted an alternative conservative healthcare plan.

He is also arguably to the right of Tiberi and Brady on one issue in the spotlight recently, namely the reauthorization of the lapsed Export-Import Bank. Nunes has suggested that the bank, prized by business groups but despised by many conservatives, should be phased out entirely. Tiberi has pushed to reauthorize it, while Brady has not staked out a clear position.

Nunes already has one important role in Congress: He’s the chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

He has not said yet whether he intends to vie for the Ways and Means post, but a congressional source said that he is “seriously considering making a run for it.”