Two Congressmen Invite Texans From Both Parties to Breakfast

But Mr. Brady is a Republican and Mr. Gallego is a Democrat, which in Washington might make them enemies.

They are not following the script, though.

Mr. Brady and Mr. Gallego are trying to bring together all 38 Texans who serve in Congress to find common ground and discuss how to advance the state’s agenda in the nation’s capital.

A bipartisan breakfast has been scheduled for Thursday, and so far at least nine members, seven of them former state legislators, have said they will attend. Mr. Brady and Mr. Gallego are pursuing the others.

“There’s a new willingness among the Texas delegation, particularly among those of us who worked together in the State Legislature, to reach across the aisle,” said Mr. Gallego, who represents a border district stretching from San Antonio to the outskirts of El Paso. “We remember when friendship trumped partisanship.”

Although the Legislature has gotten bogged down in partisanship of its own, the party lines have never run as deep as those in Washington. Even today, with Democrats far outnumbered by Republicans at the Texas Capitol, members of the minority party retain powerful committee chairmanships and often carry high-profile bills.

Mr. Brady, who represents a conservative swath of suburbia north of Houston, said pulling the former state legislators together in Washington “seemed like a natural thing to do.” Expanding it to the entire delegation made sense, he said, because there are many issues around which the Texans can unite, like NASA financing, agriculture and energy policy.

“These issues affect our state, so regardless of what party you’re in, we want to make sure we’re all working together in the same direction,” Mr. Brady said. “Texas trumps partisan concerns, and we just need to pull together for our state regardless of party.”

Former United States House Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Democrat from North Texas who served in the House from 1913 until his death in 1961, fostered a tradition of home-state unity in his delegation. But he served at a time when Democrats ruled Texas. Still, he had clashes with United States Representative Bruce Alger of Dallas, who was the only Republican in the delegation when he took office in 1955.

Starting in 1993, United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison — a former State House member — brought Texans from both parties together for regular meetings, but those tapered off in recent years amid bitter redistricting clashes.

For the new effort, Mr. Gallego is handling the task of rounding up the delegation’s other 11 Democrats. Mr. Brady is handling invitations to the other 23 Republican House members as well as to Texas’ United States senators, John Cornyn and the Tea Party firebrand Ted Cruz, both Republicans.

Before the meeting on Thursday, the bipartisanship effort will face its first potentially divisive decision: where to find breakfast tacos worthy of discerning Texas taste buds.

They are “not as easy to find in D.C. as you might imagine,” Mr. Gallego said.

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Sunday Breakfast Menu, Aug. 5

August 07

Political news from today's Times and around the Web, plus a look at the latest happenings in Washington.

August 06

President Obama finished an evening of fund-raising with an event at the Connecticut home of the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

August 06

The president coins a phrase that he hopes will keep voters thinking of Mitt Romney's tax plan.

August 06

Mitt Romney will embark on a four-day bus tour on Saturday that will take him to Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio, his campaign announced Monday.

August 06

In the latest installment of The Agenda series, David Leonhardt writes that the income stagnation of the last decade stems, in simplest terms, from the economy's overall sluggishness and the concentration of its modest gains among a small share of the population.

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Monitor Breakfast Q&A: Rep. Steve Israel (The Christian Science Monitor)

Democratic campaign chief Steve Israel chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is working in the 2012 elections to regain party control of the US House. New Yorkers elected Mr. Israel to Congress in 2000. He was guest speaker at the June 1 Monitor breakfast in Washington. Odds of gaining the 24 seats Democrats need to take control of the House after the 2012 election:

"I can't tell you we can get 24. It is going to be razor close.... The House will be in play, factoring in the uncertainties of redistricting and other challenges and opportunities."

The effect of constitutionally mandated redistricting based on the 2010 Census:

"It is going to be very close to a net zero. Maybe [Republicans] will pick up a couple of seats, maybe [Democrats] will pick up a couple.... Redistricting is not the threat, the huge, existential threat that the Republicans made it out to be."

Future impact of the May 24 special election in New York's heavily Republican 26th Congressional District, won by Democrat Kathleen Hochul amid voter concern about Medicare changes, per the GOP budget plan:

"New York 26 will inform our strategy; it will not be our strategy."

Democratic Party intent to target House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin in 2012, author of the budget plan that would turn Medicare into a voucherlike program:

"As the architect of the Republican plan to terminate Medicare on the one hand, while continuing to fund subsidies for big oil companies on the other, he should be held accountable. Now, Wisconsin has not gone through redistricting [yet], so we will see how the lines are drawn as to the viability."

Plans to target other GOP congressional leaders:

"We are going to target districts not based on whether somebody is a GOP leader, but based on the situation on the ground, based on have they cast a voting record that is out of touch, out of tune with their district."

Why Democrats launched two fundraising groups to take unlimited donations, akin to similar groups founded by Karl Rove on the Republican side:

"I don't believe in unilateral disarmament."

Hopes for gaining House seats in President Obama's home state:

"Illinois and ... the suburbs of Chicago have always been a center of gravity in our plans to retake a House majority."

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