# Jason Smith **Jason Smith** (b. 1980) is a Republican U.S. Representative from Missouri (MO-08, since 2013) and chair of the [[House Ways and Means Committee]] (since 2023) — the tax-writing committee at the center of the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] extension fight and the reconciliation package. ## Why he matters for the KB The Ways and Means gavel is where the tax side of the reconciliation agenda is drafted; Smith's populist-coded framing of corporate tax policy is a useful specimen of post-2016 Republican economic messaging.