Wheeler
President Donald J. Trump has formally nominated Andrew Wheeler to be the next administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Wheeler has been serving as EPA’s acting administrator since last July, a role he assumed following the resignation of former administrator Scott Pruitt.
Trump shared his plans to nominate Wheeler to the position during a Nov. 16 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House. The president said Wheeler “is going to be made permanent” as EPA boss and has “done a fantastic job” in his role at the agency.
Prior to serving as deputy administrator under Pruitt, Wheeler previously served on former EPW Chairman Jim Inhofe’s staff as the committee’s chief counsel and Republican staff director. He also worked in EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics from 1991 to 1995. More recently, he was a principal at FaegreBD Consulting, where he represented the Nuclear Institute, Xcel Energy and Murray Energy, the largest privately-owned coal company in the United States.
The role of acting administrator is expected to fall to EPA General Counsel Matthew Leopold, the next Senate-confirmed appointee within the agency’s order of succession.
