The Senate confirmed Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, handing the reins of the agency responsible for ensuring clean air and safe drinking water to a former coal industry lobbyist.
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, handing the reins of the agency responsible for ensuring clean air and safe drinking water to a former coal industry lobbyist.
Wheeler assumed control of the agency on an interim basis in July 2018 after President Trump chose him to replace former Administrator Scott Pruitt, who resigned under a cloud of federal investigations. Scrutiny of Pruitt’s lavish spending of taxpayer money and the use of his position to enrich his family turned him into a political liability. When the spotlight became too intense, it fell to his deputy to continue Trump’s agenda of rolling back Obama administration environmental regulations.
Most Republicans continue to support these policies, but the aggressive anti-regulation push has cost Wheeler the backing of some of the more moderate senators who voted a year ago to confirm him as deputy administrator.“I believe that Mr. Wheeler, unlike Scott Pruitt, understands the mission of the EPA and acts in accordance with ethical standards,” Collins wrote on Twitter.
A longtime Washington insider, Wheeler has often been viewed as a more disciplined version of his former boss. Pruitt’s rush to undo long-standing rules and his lack of familiarity with the complicated process of rewriting regulations led to a raft of lawsuits, many of which succeeded in delaying or stopping his initiatives.
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