[2][4][5] Currently a government affairs counselor for K & L Gates in Washington, DC,[6][7] Walsh retired from the United States House of Representatives in 2009 after serving for twenty years.

As chair of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, alone, Walsh had spending oversight of more than $100 billion during the 109th Congress.

In his capacities as chair and member of committees, subcommittees, and caucuses in Congress, Walsh secured hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for veterans affairs, healthcare, technology, the environment, higher educational institutions, and many other areas.

In 2009, an act that he proposed and which was enacted that achieved this effort was renamed for him in his honor, becoming known as the James T. Walsh Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program.

Walsh's change of perspective regarding both of then-President George W. Bush's troop surge of 2007 and ideology regarding the Iraq War, caused Walsh's views to gain headlines in the news media, as well as for additionally desiring a gradual withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

[7] Walsh's early employment included that as a Social Services[3] income examiner,[2][8] and telephone company executive[1][3][5][7][8] with both AT&T[2][7] and NYNEX Telecommunications.

[12] Walsh ran as a Republican,[1][3][5][8] and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988[2] in what was then the 27th District,[5] handily defeating state Public Service Commissioner Rosemary S. Pooler.

[16] Walsh proposed many bills aimed at funding for, and was supportive of, the Hancock Air National Guard Base in Syracuse during his tenure in Congress.

[18] The USO is a non-profit organization that provides welfare, morale, and recreational services to American military personnel and their families.

[8][20] On March 11, 2009, the act was renamed as the James T. Walsh Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program,[17] and was identified within 42 United States Code 280g-1.

[17] The Act is for "the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment regarding hearing loss in newborns and infants," and includes several provisions so that these endeavors may be accomplished.

[25]In 2006, Walsh and both Congress Members Brian Higgins and Tim Murphy met with several government leaders in Ireland in which there was a confirmation announcement of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons decommissioning.

[26] Government leaders with whom the three congress members met included Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain, US Ambassador to Ireland James C. Kenny, US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Robert H. Tuttle, and the leadership of each of the main political parties involved in the process for peace.

[26] In 2019, Walsh alongside a number of other Irish American political and civil society figures founded the bipartisan Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement.

[29] A supporter of cleaning up[7][22][30] Onondaga Lake[7][22][30] in New York State near Syracuse, Walsh achieved the securing of $160 million in federal funds for the effort.

[8] In 1998, the US House of Representatives considered expanding the Peace Corps,[9] and Walsh spoke in Nepalese in a statement to the Committee on International Relations,[9] expressing about his experiences as well as his support for the expansion of the program.

[9] In part, Walsh is quoted from his statement given in the House of Representatives in 1998 regarding his experiences with the Peace Corps in Nepal, as well as his support for Peace Corps' expansion, stating: I think we all gained far more than we gave, but we did give something, and what this country gave us is something we would like to continue to give to other young people.

"[12] In 2004, Walsh secured nearly $5 million in federal funding for the SNI's Phase VI continued revitalization efforts for the City of Syracuse.

[32] Regarding the funding he secured in 2004 for SNI's Phase VI, Walsh is quoted in a March 20, 2006 Honeywell article, stating: The Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative is making a difference in every corner of the city.

[33] Included in the receipt of federal funds proposed by Walsh was his alma mater, St. Bonaventure University,[31] in the construction and establishment of the William F. Walsh Science Center,[31] named in honor of his father, in 2006,[31] as well as for the renovation of the university's existing science building, De La Roche Hall.

Upstate New York will undoubtedly benefit from this research, and the development of early warning sensors to detect forest fires.

[22] Brief summaries of Walsh's congressional blog are currently housed in the Friedsam Memorial Library Archives[22] of his alma mater, St. Bonaventure University.

[22] Despite the growing Democratic trend in his district, Walsh was able to hold onto his seat due to his long tenure on the House Appropriations Committee.

In 2002, Walsh received a 2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his efforts in working to promote the Irish Peace Process.

[46] In June 2003, The Center of Excellence in Environmental Systems,[47] an industry group, presented Congressman Walsh with the Syracuse University Willis H. Carrier Award.

[7][46] Further, he was honored with the Capital Award from the National Council of La Raza in Washington, DC in 2001;[46] Affordable Housing Champion from the National Council of State Housing Agencies in Washington, DC in 2000;[7][46] and the Flax Trust Award from Flax Trust in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1997.

[7][46] Walsh also received the John Philip Sousa Distinguished Service Award in recognition for his efforts at preserving the historic Congressional Cemetery.

The Reverend Simon Le Moyne, a French Jesuit, was the first white man to visit the Syracuse area when the Onondaga Indians inhabited it.

During the same year, Father Le Moyne learned of the salt wells whose economic importance to the development of the City of Syracuse is an intrinsic part of its history.

He's a tremendous voice for his district and for New York's congressional delegation ...[38][49]After retiring from the U.S. House, Walsh became a lobbyist and government affairs counselor for K & L Gates in Washington, DC.