Walker Demotes Donor's Kid— to Puny $65K Job

After uproar, governor bumps Brian Deschane back to old gig
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Suggested by SPHeroid
Posted Apr 6, 2011 10:10 AM CDT
Walker Demotes Donor's Kid— to Puny $65K Job
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks during a press conference at the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 7, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.   (Getty Images)

Well that was fast. Scott Walker did an about-face yesterday and demoted the son of a major campaign donor from his $81,500-per-year Commerce Department gig—to his former $64,728 job. Brian Deschane will return to his previous post as a bureau director at the Department of Regulation and Licensing, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. The 27-year-old, who has no college degree and little experience (but does have two drunk-driving convictions!), had been in that job just two months when he was promoted to head of Wisconsin's environmental and regulatory affairs.

Among those Deschane beat out for the job: a former Cabinet secretary with a doctoral degree and eight years experience overseeing oil contamination cleanup, and a professional engineer who had held the job since 2003 under the last governor. Neither was even interviewed. “When Governor Walker learned the details of this agency staffing decision, he directed his administration to move in another direction,” a Walker spokesman says (last week, this same rep called Deschane a "natural fit" for the position). But the demotion didn't satisfy some Democrats. "I want to make sure he was properly hired for that job in the first place," said Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca. Click for more on the brouhaha. (More Brian Deschane stories.)

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