Greg Walden (R-OR) is Chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee, but according to an Oregon newspaper, there may be an even more prestigious House job in his immediate future.
According to The Oregonian, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OR) recently praised Walden and said he was about to move on to a bigger job.
The job is Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which collects funds for the purpose of House political campaigns, distributing in general to incumbents facing tough re-election battles, challengers with a good chance of toppling a Democratic incumbents, or candidates for a hotly-contested open seat.
Walden is currently #2 at NRCC. According to the Oregonian report, Walden says he has key support lined up on the one hand, and a lack of any other interested parties to contest his ascension on the other.
RBR-TVBR observation: If Walden exits his Communications post, it would seem that Lee Terry (R-NE). He is the vice-chair of the Subcommittee at the moment, and would therefore have an inside track to the top spot. Terry was one of the Republican proponents of expanding the LPFM service. In general, he seems to stand with Walden on most communications issues.
There is of course no guarantee Terry would get the post however. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) is a former Communications Chair and had sought to return to that post when the Republican Party gained a majority in the House in 2010, only to see the post go to Walden. But there is no chance that Stearns will try again – he was defeated in a primary and will presumably be enjoying his retirement or looking for a job by the time the next Congress is seated.
