Senate confirms Trump’s pick for EPA international office

The Senate confirmed President Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) international affairs office.

Senators cleared William “Chad” McIntosh, a former Ford Motor Co. executive, minutes before noon Thursday, at which point the session of Congress ended. It was the upper chamber’s final confirmation during the 115th Congress.

Democrats had criticized the EPA when it hired McIntosh and Peter Wright, another agency nominee, in July, despite the fact that the Senate did not confirm them. Both came on board as advisers to the agency, and were prohibited from doing the jobs they were nominated for before confirmation.

{mosads}McIntosh will be in charge of the Office of International and Tribal Affairs, which coordinates the agency’s relationships with foreign countries and American Indian tribes. That office had been led on an interim basis by Jane Nishida, a career employee, since President Trump’s inauguration nearly two years ago.

The EPA decline to comment on McIntosh, saying the current partial government shutdown does not allow it to do so.

The confirmation came after the Senate approved dozens of Trump nominees Wednesday night.

That set of confirmations included Alexandra Dunn, Trump’s pick to lead the EPA’s chemical safety office and Mary Neumayr, the nominee to be chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality.

The three officials “are well qualified and uniquely experienced for the role they have been nominated,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which is responsible for all three positions.

“They will serve in key positions that help protect our environment and grow our economy.”