Breaux was elected as a Democrat to the
92nd United States Congress in a
special election on September 30, 1972, to fill the vacancy created by Edwards' resignation in order to become governor. Breaux's campaign manager was Ron Faucheux, later a member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives. At the age of twenty-eight, Breaux was the youngest member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Breaux was re-elected with ease to the seven succeeding Congresses and served until January 3, 1987.
Gerald Ford in 1976 He was not a candidate for re-election to the House of Representatives in 1986, but was instead elected as a Democrat to the
United States Senate. Breaux opposed
Ronald Reagan's
nomination of
Robert Bork to the
U.S. Supreme Court. On October 23, 1987, he voted with all but two Democrats, and six Republicans to defeat his nomination by a vote of 42-58. On October 15, 1991, Breaux was one of seven Southern Democrats who voted to confirm the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court in a 52 to 48 vote, the narrowest margin of approval in more than a century. Breaux was seen as a centrist in a Senate divided along partisan lines, and was frequently sought out by Republican leaders to corral a few Democratic votes when they needed them; conversely he also often served as the Democratic emissary in attempts to gather a few moderate Republicans to win votes on their proposals. He was pro-life and a supporter of Second Amendment rights, though he gradually moderated his position on gun control. He was more conservative on taxes than most in his party and challenged many environmental protections. He voted in favor of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), welfare reform, the
balanced budget amendment, and tighter bankruptcy laws. He was a key Democratic supporter of Republican attempts to abolish the
estate tax and in 2001 was among the minority of Democrats to support
Bush's tax cut and opposed virtually all attempts by Democrats to alter it. However Breaux had voted with the majority of Democrats in favor of the 1993 Budget. In 2003 he submitted an amendment to reduce the tax cut to $350 billion. In 1995 he notably voted twice with more liberal elements of his party against the widely approved lawsuit reform measures, the Common Sense Product Liability and Legal Reform Act and the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Both acts were vetoed by President
Bill Clinton, although the second act was passed over his veto. On June 22, 2004, Breaux cast the lone vote against amendment, S.A. 3464, which would increase the maximum fine from $27,500 to $275,000 when the FCC determines a broadcaster is guilty of "obscene, indecent or profane language." Breaux also opposed the loosening of FCC rules that would allow cross-media platforms in the same community to fall under a single owner. In 1993, Breaux was elected by Senate Democrats as Deputy Majority Whip, a position he held until his retirement. He also held a number of key Senate committee positions. A senior member of the Finance Committee, Senator Breaux served as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy. From his position on the Finance Committee, he helped build the coalition that passed welfare reform and health insurance reform bills in 1996. He also pushed for a reduction in the capital gains tax and for tax relief for college education expenses. In 1998, Breaux was selected by the White House and House and Senate leaders to chair the
National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Also in 1998, Senator Breaux co-chaired the National Commission on Retirement Policy, which produced legislation to help reform Social Security. Breaux was the principal architect of the $400 billion Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act. Breaux was a founder of the bipartisan
Senate Centrist Coalition and served as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. Breaux's state director and press secretary was the journalist
Robert "Bob" Mann, who holds the Douglas Manship Chair of Journalism at Louisiana State University. In the 2003 Louisiana gubernatorial campaign, after flirting briefly with the possibility of running himself, Breaux campaigned hard for the successful Democratic candidate,
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of
Lafayette. That same year, Breaux was inducted into the
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in
Winnfield. He announced that he would not run for re-election in 2004; by most accounts he was so popular that it was believed he would have easily won a fourth term had he chosen to run again. He was succeeded in the Senate by Republican
David Vitter of suburban
New Orleans. Despite Breaux's popularity, he was unable to dictate his successor in the Senate, as Russell Long and
J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. had done. He endorsed Democrat
Chris John, the U.S. representative from the seventh district, which Breaux had once represented. However, John came second in the jungle primary to Republican David Vitter. Vitter won 51% of the vote, which allowed him to avoid a runoff election. ==Post-congressional career==