He worked as Assistant Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives under his future political ally, Walter P. Brownlow, from 1881 to 1883, during the Forty-seventh Congress.

[2] Austin ran for Alabama's 8th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1890, but lost to the incumbent, former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, 16,821 votes to 12,076.

The president considered Evans for the office of Postmaster General, but the appointment went to James A. Gary of Maryland, due in part to the influence of Brownlow and Austin.

One of the more notable actions of Austin as marshal came in June 1903, when he organized an unsuccessful effort to recapture outlaw Kid Curry, who had escaped from a Knoxville jail.

[5] Austin ran for Tennessee's 2nd district congressional seat in 1904, but was defeated in the primary by Nathan W. Hale, who had the support of the Evans-Sanders block.

In 1908, the quarrel between the Evans-Sanders and Brownlow-Austin factions intensified when powerful Knoxville businessman William J. Oliver, a friend of Brownlow and Austin, led a band of armed ruffians to the state party's convention in Nashville, where they beat up Sanders and chased away his supporters.

[8] In 1912, Republicans were again divided, with some remaining loyal to Taft, and others throwing their support behind Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party ticket.

W. H. Buttram, who had the support of John Chiles Houk and Knoxville attorney Hugh B. Lindsay, ran on the Progressive ticket.

[11] The persistent enmity of Houk, Sanders and Hooper finally took its toll in the March 1918 Republican primary, when Austin was defeated for the nomination by state party chairman J.

[12] During his five terms in Congress, Austin, a Taft ally, generally supported protectionist measures, such as tariffs on foreign imports.