Politico reports:

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan will give the Republicans’ response to Tuesday’s State of the Union address, once again putting the Wisconsin Republican center stage as a foil to President Barack Obama.

Ryan, who has drawn the praise of the president in the past, is “uniquely qualified to address the state of our economy and the fiscal challenges that face our country,” said Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The State of the Union rebuttal is always a high profile — yet sometimes risky — opportunity for an up and comer in the opposition party to give a speech on the national stage. With spending cuts and deficit reduction as a top Republican priority this year, Ryan is a natural choice for Republicans.

“We’re broke, and decisive action is needed to help our economy get back to creating jobs and end the spending binge in Washington that threatens our children’s future. I’m pleased that Paul will be outlining a common-sense vision for moving our country forward,” said Boehner, who made the selection along with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Ryan has been sharply critical of Democrats in Congress, especially after they failed to pass a budget last year and funded the government on stop-gap measures in place of appropriations bills. As chairman of the Budget committee, Ryan is likely to be an extremely public face on the House Republicans’ goals to work at eliminating deficits, debts and slashing spending.