House Ways and Means Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX) joined CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about the current status of an end-of-the-year COVID-19 relief bill, government funding, and the three-year anniversary of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

On COVID-19 relief:

“I think we’re making progress here. Obviously, recovery from the pandemic has beat expectations. We still have a ways to go yet. The focus on reconnecting workers to their jobs, especially with PPP loans, to the rapid deployment of the vaccines, are all incredibly helpful to the economy, so I’m hopeful. They’re close, closer than they’ve ever been.”

“I think a lot of progress has been done on those temporary tax extenders, on the surprise medical billing, on the continuation of some of the key tax provisions in the CARES Act. I think a lot of work is ready to go here, so really, the COVID bill is the last thing for the pieces to come together.”

On the three-year anniversary of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

“We are celebrating this week the three-year anniversary of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. There’s no question that it beat all economic expectations. It drove wages up for the first time in more than a decade, especially among blue collar, low-income workers, and essentially ended the practice of inversions, companies moving their headquarters, their research, their manufacturing overseas.”

“In good economic times, it wouldn’t make sense to repeal those tax cuts. It’s insane to do that as we’re trying to recover from the pandemic. … You would be taking more money out of family and local businesses’ pockets.”

CLICK HERE to watch the full interview.