With few days in office remaining, Walker scrambles to fill Board of Regents seats

During his final weeks in office, the Senate approved 82 appointees picked by Gov. Scott Walker. Among them are new Board of Regents’ members attorney Scott Beightol and nontraditional UW-Madison student Torrey Tiedeman.

After Bryan Steil resigned his seat to succeed House Speaker Paul Ryan as the next representative for Wisconsin’s 1st District, Walker appointed Beightol to fill his seat. Beightol will remain a regent until his term ends in May 2023.

Steil thanked Walker for the chance to sit on the board, as well as the opportunity to serve Wisconsin citizens.

"While my duties in Congress will not allow me to continue serving on the Board, I am more committed than ever to working to ensure future generations have access to the high quality, affordable education they need,” Steil said. “I am excited to use my role in Congress to do just that.”

Tiedeman will fill Lisa Erickson’s former seat, which has been vacant for nearly a year, setting the record for longest vacancy. His term will end in May 2020.

Moments before the Senate took up the appointees, Gov.-elect Tony Evers sent Walker a letter Tuesday requesting him to withdraw the recent appointees as they did not provide required materials, such as statements of economic interest.

The appointees were approved by a party-line vote, with Republicans in support and Democrats against, according to The Washington Post.

Following Evers’ election win, Republicans began discussions to limit his authority through a series of reforms. Democrats suspect deliberate consolidation of the Legislator for easy control, while Republicans fear abuse of powers to come with the future governor.