Walberg selected as chair of House ed committee

Representative Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican, has been selected to chair the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, picking up the gavel for the 119th Congress from longtime committee leader Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

Representative Burgess Owens of Utah had also been vying to replace Foxx, but the House Republican Steering Committee announced its decision to appoint Walberg on Thursday.

The decision comes nearly two years after Walberg lost his bid to chair the committee in 2023. But he has gained seniority and firmly reinforced his priorities for the committee, though in a less outspoken way than counterparts like Foxx and Representative Elise Stefanik of New York.

“Having served under three Republican chairs of this committee, I understand both the privilege and responsibility now entrusted to me,” Walberg said in a news release about his appointment. “Freedom, opportunity, and fairness will guide our work as we deliver results for America. Let’s get to work!”

In an interview with Politico, the representative said he wants to bolster school choice, make college more affordable, boost apprenticeships and internships, pass a bipartisan short-term Pell Grant bill for workforce training programs, and reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which governs workforce development programs.

He touted himself as Michigan’s most conservative representative but also pointed to his ability to work across the aisle, telling Politico he’s “good friends” with Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, who is expected to continue as ranking member for the Democrats.

Before entering the political sphere, Walberg served as a pastor in Michigan and Indiana and manager of the Strategic Partners division at Moody Bible Institute, a religious college in Chicago. Some thought his limited ties to higher ed—an area that House Republicans have prioritized—made him a less likely candidate for the position than Owens, who is currently chair of the higher education subcommittee and whose father was a professor at Florida A&M University.

“[Walberg] is a long-serving member of the committee and hasn’t cut a big path when it comes to education policy, but he’s very familiar with the issues and will be an interesting choice,” Vic Klatt, a principal at the Penn Hill Group, said at a Middle States Commission on Higher Education conference just hours before the decision was announced.

Foxx said in a news release Thursday evening that Walberg has “been a collaborative, effective, and hardworking member of the Committee for 16 years” and that she’s excited to see him take on the leadership role.

“Tim has been a lifelong fighter for education and literacy and truly believes in helping every American reach their God-given potential,” she said. “I have no doubt that he’ll hit the ground running and will work tirelessly to ensure students have the opportunity to learn and workers have the ability to succeed.”