Jason Thomas Smith is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's 8th congressional district and the Chairman of the incredibly powerful House Ways and Means Committee—the chief tax-writing committee in the United States Congress. Elected to the House in 2013, Smith represents a deeply rural, conservative district in southeast Missouri. In the 119th Congress (2026), Smith is the central legislative architect of President Trump's aggressive fiscal agenda. He is responsible for pushing through the sweeping "Working Families Tax Cuts" (extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), implementing the populist "No Tax on Tips" and "No Tax on Overtime" policies, and structuring the massive tariff frameworks that define Trump's "America First" trade policy. He frequently clashes with the IRS over its funding and enforcement priorities, seeking to rein in the agency’s reach.