The House Republican Steering Committee on Thursday recommended Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg to lead the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the next Congress.
A former pastor who has a background in Christian education and has served on the committee for 16 years, Walberg prevailed over Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, a former NFL player just elected to his third term.
“It’s an honor to have been elected as the next Chairman of @EdWorkforceCmte,” Walberg said on social media after the vote. “The American people have given us a mandate, and we’re ready to deliver,” he added, vowing to work with President-elect Donald Trump and House GOP leaders “to get the job done.”
Walberg said in an interview last week that addressing campus antisemitism, protecting the rights of parents and expanding workforce development and training programs are among his priorities. He also said he intends to address student privacy concerns brought on by an increased reliance on data and technology within public schools.
“Having served under three Republican chairs of this committee, I understand both the privilege and responsibility now entrusted to me,” Walberg said in a statement shortly after the steering committee vote. “We have a unique opportunity to make substantive reforms to empower parents, incentivize workforce training, improve government efficiency, and unburden American innovators and job creators.”
Walberg’s call for increased federal support of alternatives to the typical college experience echoes views expressed by Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for Education secretary.
The House Education panel has been at the forefront of some of the nation’s most divisive social and political debates, including the participation of transgender students in scholastic sports, parents rights, school choice and the Republican push against diversity initiatives and the “woke agenda” in public schools.
“We have significant work ahead of us, from enshrining protections for parents to continuing to protect Jewish students on college campuses to rights providing more opportunity and flexibility to American workers,” Walberg said.
Walberg, who made an unsuccessful bid for the chairman’s gavel two years ago, will succeed the committee’s current leader, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, in January, if, as expected, the full House GOP Conference confirms the choice.
Foxx, who was termed-limited, called Walberg “a lifelong fighter for education and literacy.”
Walberg was first elected to Congress in 2006, lost reelection two years later but then won back his seat in 2010 and has served ever since. Representing a deep-red Michigan district that stretches along the state’s southern border with Ohio and Indiana, he easily won a ninth term last month.
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