McConnell touts new post on EPA appropriations panel

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on Monday that he will be joining a Senate subcommittee that oversees funding for what is arguably one of his least favorite agencies.

McConnell will sit on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, which has jurisdiction over the Environmental Protection Agency. 

{mosads}”By joining the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I will help oversee the budget for the EPA,” McConnell said. “You can guarantee that I will continue to fight back against this Administration’s anti-coal jobs regulations on behalf of the Kentuckians I represent in the U.S. Senate.”

McConnell hasn’t been shy about his disdain for the agency’s climate change agenda, campaigning on his plan to dismantle the administration’s carbon pollution standards during his 2014 reelection bid. 

McConnell echoed that sentiment in a statement announcing his new post on Monday.

“This Administration continues its war against Kentucky coal jobs, our miners and their families and I have vowed to do all I can do stop them,” McConnell said. 

The announcement comes as President Obama unveiled his 2016 budget proposal, which dedicates a sizable chunk to boosting federal efforts to fight climate change.