Associated Press
BAKERSFIELD CA — Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, the powerful and mercurial chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, displayed traces of the fire that made him so revered and often feared on Capitol Hill when he announced he will from Congress after this year.
Thomas, 64, who has spent more than a quarter century in Congress, made the
announcement Monday at a news conference in his hometown of Bakersfield. The development was widely expected because, under House Republicans’ self-imposed term limits for committee chairmen, Thomas cannot serve after this year as head of the influential committee that writes tax laws.
“I’m not walking away into the sunset; I’m going to work,” he said. “Just because I won’t be in office doesn’t mean I won’t have any influence.”
For the past five years, Thomas has played a key role in shepherding President Bush‘s tax cuts and writing legislation on Medicare, Social Security and pensions.
His deep knowledge of such complicated issues has made him indispensable to party leaders, despite complaints that he was difficult to work with and not conservative enough because of some votes for abortion rights and gun control.
Some colleagues believe Thomas rescued Bush’s tax cut proposal in 2003 after the Senate refused to go along with its initial cost. He was instrumental in securing congressional passage of Bush’s Medicare prescription drug bill and of “fast track” trade promotion authority. That authority gives the administration the power to negotiate new international trade pacts that Congress must approve or reject but cannot change.
But even Thomas’ attention could not keep alive Bush’s bid to overhaul Social Security. In a television interview last month, he said he considered that effort “a personal failure.”
“Chairman Thomas is someone we’ve worked very closely with to advance important priorities for the American people,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. “We appreciate all that he’s done.”
The Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights has been a frequent critic of Thomas’ tax policies and his handling of the Medicare prescription drug benefit overhaul.
The group’s president, Jamie Court, welcomed Thomas’ retirement, calling him the “poster child for everything that has gone wrong with the Republican revolution.”
“He has literally been the ideological godfather of the privatization of health care and fiscal irresponsibility with regards to the budget deficit,” Court said. “Bill Thomas to me as a Republican is an embarrassment.”
Federal spending under the Bush administration also earned Thomas the wrath of some Republicans.
In anticipation of his departure, the California Republican Assembly, a conservative wing of the state party, passed a resolution over the weekend welcoming Thomas’ “none-too-soon retirement.” It accused him of backing liberal Republicans, supporting federally funded abortions and overseeing growth in federal spending.
But Rep. David Dreier, a San Dimas Republican who heads California’s GOP congressional delegation, said Thomas deserves credit as a “very skilled legislator who recognizes the importance of cutting taxes and opening up new markets to benefit American workers and consumers.”
Thomas’ policy and spending priorities weren’t the only aspects of his tenure that generated criticism. The abrasive personal style that often allowed him to force legislation through the House also created problems.
His clashes with Democrats became famous on Capitol Hill. He called out the Capitol police three years ago to break up a meeting of Democrats on his committee, then expressed regret in tears on the House floor.
In the tussle over the trade bill, he labeled as “dumb and outlandish” questions from Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla. He had to apologize to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., after accusing her of lacking guts on the medical malpractice issue and wrongly attributing her position to the fact that the senator was facing reelection, which she was not.
Thomas said he wants to tackle “outdated” entitlement programs and the nation’s “flawed income tax structure.”
Thomas came to Congress in 1979, after teaching American government at Bakersfield Community College for 10 years and serving four years in the California Assembly.
His father was a union plumber, and neither of his parents graduated from high school. The annual financial disclosure forms lawmakers file each year showed Thomas to be among the most modest-meaned members of Congress. He regularly listed no assets or income beyond his congressional salary, now $165,200.
Thomas became the first Californian to serve as House Ways and Means chairman when he was named to the post in 2001.
With Thomas’ departure, several lawmakers will be eyeing the Ways and Means chairmanship. Among them are Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., who chairs the subcommittee on Social Security and has worked closely with Thomas, and Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., who chaired several subcommittees during his 18 years on the panel.
Thomas’ 22nd Congressional District at the southern end of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley is expected to stay firmly in GOP control. Republicans make up 52 percent of registered voters in the district, compared to 30 percent for Democrats.
A contested GOP primary is already shaping up between California Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Thomas’ protege and longtime ally, and state Sen. Roy Ashburn. The filing deadline is Friday.
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Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report from Washington.
