Walberg chosen as chair of Home ed committee

Consultant Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican, has been chosen to chair the Home Committee on Training and the Workforce, choosing up the gavel for the 119th Congress from longtime committee chief Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

Consultant Burgess Owens of Utah had additionally been vying to interchange Foxx, however the Home Republican Steering Committee introduced its choice to nominate Walberg on Thursday.

The choice comes almost two years after Walberg misplaced his bid to chair the committee in 2023. However he has gained seniority and firmly strengthened his priorities for the committee, although in a much less outspoken means than counterparts like Foxx and Consultant Elise Stefanik of New York.

“Having served beneath three Republican chairs of this committee, I perceive each the privilege and duty now entrusted to me,” Walberg mentioned in a information launch about his appointment. “Freedom, alternative, and equity will information our work as we ship outcomes for America. Let’s get to work!”

In an interview with Politico, the consultant mentioned he desires to bolster college alternative, make school extra inexpensive, enhance apprenticeships and internships, go a bipartisan short-term Pell Grant invoice for workforce coaching applications, and reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Alternative Act, which governs workforce growth applications.

He touted himself as Michigan’s most conservative consultant but in addition pointed to his skill to work throughout the aisle, telling Politico he’s “good associates” with Consultant Bobby Scott of Virginia, who is anticipated to proceed as rating member for the Democrats.

Earlier than coming into the political sphere, Walberg served as a pastor in Michigan and Indiana and supervisor of the Strategic Companions division at Moody Bible Institute, a spiritual school in Chicago. Some thought his restricted ties to larger ed—an space that Home Republicans have prioritized—made him a much less possible candidate for the place than Owens, who’s at present chair of the upper schooling subcommittee and whose father was a professor at Florida A&M College.

“[Walberg] is a long-serving member of the committee and hasn’t minimize a giant path on the subject of schooling coverage, however he’s very conversant in the problems and will probably be an attention-grabbing alternative,” Vic Klatt, a principal on the Penn Hill Group, mentioned at a Center States Fee on Greater Training convention simply hours earlier than the choice was introduced.

However Foxx mentioned in a information launch Thursday night that Walberg has “been a collaborative, efficient, and hardworking member of the Committee for 16 years” and that she’s excited to see him tackle the management function.

“Tim has been a lifelong fighter for schooling and literacy and actually believes in serving to each American attain their God-given potential,” she mentioned. “I’ve little doubt that he’ll hit the bottom operating and can work tirelessly to make sure college students have the chance to study and employees have the flexibility to succeed.”

Owens additionally gave his competitor credit score in a submit on X on Friday morning.

“Congratulations to my buddy, Tim Walberg,” Owens wrote. “Within the new congress, we’ve a possibility to revive accountability in schooling and be certain that each American—no matter the place they begin—has a shot on the American Dream. I stay up for working carefully with Tim to make it occur.”