WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, of The Woodlands, has seen his party transform itself time and again over his 26 years serving in Congress.
Brady was elected in 1996, the same year President Bill Clinton was reelected. Republicans had taken over the House and Senate in the 1994 midterm elections, and under Speaker Newt Gingrich, bipartisanship was beginning to erode. Now, Brady, 67, is preparing to retire at the beginning of January with Congress more polarized than ever, and with his party at a crossroads as it considers whether to follow former President Donald Trump into another election cycle.