Senate Environment Committee Approves Andrew Wheeler For EPA Chief

The Republican-controlled Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday (Feb. 5) approved the nomination of EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to lead the agency full time. The committee voted 11-10 on party lines to send the nomination to the Senate floor after Republicans rebuffed requests by Democrats to delay the vote. Wheeler, who was confirmed by the Senate as EPA deputy administrator in April 2018, has been serving as acting administrator since Scott Pruitt resigned in July amid an array of ethics investigations and allegations that he misused taxpayer funds. President Donald Trump last month nominated Wheeler to officially take the post Wheeler's eventual confirmation appears likely but Democrats signaled their intent to block a floor vote until the nominee has addressed controversies surround several air quality rules and public health policies. "You'll have the votes to get him confirmed in the Senate, I think," Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., told his Republican colleagues. "But I want to be sure that if that happens or when that happens, the five issues we are raising here today have been addressed in an appropriate way." The issues cited by Carper are the Trump administration's moves to stall increases in fuel efficiency standards and to relax regulations that reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The Democrats also are upset with EPA's lack of progress on phasing out hydro-fluorocarbons and on a ban on the use of methyl chloride in paint strippers, as well as Wheeler's reluctance to commit to setting a drinking water standard for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).