Virginia lawmakers reject former Trump EPA chief along party lines

Virginia lawmakers officially rejected the nomination of former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Andrew Wheeler, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) nominee for secretary of natural resources, the first rejection of a state Cabinet nominee in more than 15 years.

The state Senate, where Democrats hold a two-seat majority, voted the nomination down along party lines Tuesday 21-19.

Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, was widely criticized by environmentalists during his tenure at the EPA under then-President Trump, where he oversaw the rollback of numerous environmental rules and backed a new regulation barring the use of scientific research that did not make data public. He defended his record before the state Senate in January, acknowledging human-caused climate change and saying his environmental history had been misrepresented by the press.

The rejection was widely expected, particularly after a panel within the state Senate voted to remove Wheeler’s name from a list of Cabinet nominees.

Before that vote, Wheeler had made his case in January at a largely friendly hearing, where his cordial interactions with a senate committee suggested he might be able to win bipartisan support.

State Sen. Joe Morrissey (D), who has been known to break with his party, suggested after Wheeler’s hearing that he would be open to backing him, which would have deadlocked the chamber and thrown it to Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R) for the tiebreaking vote. However, Morrissey joined the rest of his colleagues Tuesday in voting against him.

“After hearing grave concerns from our communities, stakeholders, and organizations — as well as Mr. Wheeler’s former colleagues at the EPA — we cannot in good conscience confirm such an alarming choice,” the state Senate’s Democratic caucus said in a statement following the vote.

“It’s clear Mr. Wheeler is extraordinarily qualified to be Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and admirably served for decades in the highest levels of government,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in a statement. “The governor is disappointed in today’s vote because he was looking forward to Mr. Wheeler accomplishing great things on behalf of Virginians.”

Porter added that, pursuant to the Virginia Constitution, Wheeler will serve in the position until the current session of the General Assembly adjourns.

Wheeler’s nomination marks the first outright rejection of a Cabinet nominee in the state since 2006, when the state House of Delegates voted down Daniel LeBlanc, then-Gov. Tim Kaine’s (D) nominee for secretary of the commonwealth.