Rep. Tim Walberg Earns Steering Committee Recommendation to Chair the House Education & Workforce Committee

Last week, the House Republican Steering Committee recommended Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) to be chair of the Committee in the upcoming Congress. The GOP conference is expected to ratify the decision. Rep. Walberg will succeed current Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who was term-limited as chair. Foxx is being considered by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as a possible chair for the House Rules Committee, though a decision on that post may not be made till next month.

Rep. Walberg, entering his ninth term, has been on the Committee for 16 years, and had seniority over his challenger for the Chair position, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT). Walberg, whose mother was a teacher and father a machinist, worked as a union steelworker to pay his college tuition and served as a pastor and also on the Education Committee of the Michigan House of Representatives before joining the Education & Workforce Committee in Congress. Walberg supports short-term Pell, boosting apprenticeships, and workforce development. On Higher Education Act reauthorization, he has cited the House’s College Cost Reduction Act as a framework to follow and expand on.

After securing the Steering Committee’s recommendation, Rep. Walberg said on X that under his leadership, the Committee would, “empower parents, encourage education freedom, combat antisemitism and anti-Americanism on campuses, and bridge the divide between the skills taught and skills required in the modern economy. Finally, we’ll unleash American innovation by returning to core principles: freedom, flexibility, balance, and opportunity.” Walberg also issued a statement here, and Chair Foxx issued a congratulatory statement here.

House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), who will retain his position on the Committee next Congress, is considering whether to run for Governor of Virginia, though has yet to make a decision. Primary elections will be held on June 17, 2025 and the gubernatorial election will be held November 4, 2025. Incumbent Governor Glenn Youngkin is ineligible to run for re-election. If he decides to run, Rep. Scott would face Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), who chose not to run this year for reelection to the House, in the Democratic primary. Rep. Scott said, “Usually people running statewide take about a three-month leave and I’m not ready to do that, but we’ll see. I haven’t ruled it out.”

House Republicans Unveil New Members on Key Committees

The House Republican Steering Committee recommended the following five new Committee Members for the Appropriations Committee in the upcoming 119th Congress:

Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO)

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY)

Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL)

Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT)

Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV)

The Committee’s ration will be 35 Republicans to 28 Democrats.

The Steering Committee recommended the following new members to the Ways and Means Committee:

Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL)

Rep. Max Miller (R-OH)

Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX)

Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN)

FY 25

Congressional negotiators have yet to reach an agreement on a FY 25 Continuing Resolution (CR), with funding for disaster aid, anomalies, and other extensions and additions. As the December 20 funding deadline looms, an agreement is expected soon, and bill text could be released this weekend, perhaps on Sunday. The new CR is expected to fund the government likely through around March 14, 2025, as both chambers of Congress are scheduled to be on recess that following week. The House is expected to take up the bill first, likely through suspension of the rules, with the Senate expected to approve the bill later in the week.

WIOA Reauthorization

The Senate has been working through a number of member holds focused on the 50% local training requirement. This requirement is a key pillar of the bill for Rep. Foxx, but of great concern to local workforce development boards. If an agreement is not reached allowing the bill to be brought as a standalone bill for expedited passage under unanimous consent, authorizers hope to attach WIOA reauthorization to the Continuing Resolution (CR).

It’s important that WIOA gets reauthorized this year for a number of reasons. The House and Senate authorizing committees will have new chairs in Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on the HELP Committee and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) on the House Education and Workforce Committee, who will have a variety of competing priorities on which they will focus. Also, the current WIOA bill took months to negotiate and has been a key legacy item for Rep. Foxx who has pressed for its reauthorization. Restarting this process is not a guarantee that reauthorization will be successful and will take a similar effort from the new leadership. Furthermore, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Commission will likely seek to defund unauthorized programs and as WIOA is currently unauthorized it could be vulnerable to significant proposed cuts.

Reconciliation

Republicans continue to consider their reconciliation options for moving priority legislation next year. House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) wants Congress to prioritize tax cuts and pass all its FY 25 reconciliation priorities in one bill. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) would like to have two separate reconciliation packages, the first of which would focus on border security, energy, and defense related issues, with a second reconciliation package later in the year targeting a broad-based tax package, including the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, which otherwise expire next year.

The Republican leadership is seeking guidance from President-Elect Trump on whether he prefers a one or two bill approach. Regardless, Republicans intend to move quickly on reconciliation early in the new year.