The Senate confirmed Janet McCabe as the Environmental Protection Agency’s deputy administrator in a bipartisan 52-42 vote Tuesday, installing at the agency an Obama veteran seasoned in crafting greenhouse gas mandates.
McCabe’s involvement in writing the Obama administration’s climate regulations, including the Clean Power Plan to curb carbon emissions from the power sector, was a point of contention with many Republican senators and even one Democrat, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
In fact, McCabe, who served seven years as a political appointee in the EPA’s air office during the Obama administration, ultimately as its acting chief, drew more criticism and garnered fewer Republican votes than EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Three Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, voted to confirm McCabe. Manchin broke with the rest of his party to oppose McCabe’s nomination.
McCabe was tapped during the Obama administration’s second term to lead the EPA’s air office, but the Republican-led Senate never took up her nomination.
BIDEN EPA NOMINEE TAKES HEAT FOR ROLE IN OBAMA CLEAN POWER PLAN
As the EPA’s deputy, McCabe will oversee much of the day-to-day operations of the EPA, though it is likely given her experience that she will play a role in helping craft new greenhouse gas emissions mandates critical to the Biden administration’s climate plans.
Last week, President Joe Biden set a new target for the United States to slash emissions by 50% to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030. With passing comprehensive climate legislation likely a heavy lift politically, the EPA is set to play a critical role in prompting near-term emissions reductions through new controls for power plants, passenger cars, and oil and gas production.
McCabe, during her confirmation hearing this year, defended the development of the Clean Power Plan against Republican criticism. She said she believed the Obama EPA’s rule was “within the four corners of the Clean Air Act” despite accusations from Republican senators that it was overreaching.
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The Supreme Court, in a rare move, put the Clean Power Plan on pause in 2016, and the Trump administration then rewrote it. However, just before Biden’s inauguration, a federal appeals court struck down the Trump administration’s weaker carbon rule, essentially giving Biden’s team at the EPA a blank slate to craft a regulation that helps meet his aggressive climate agenda.
McCabe told senators during her March hearing that she wasn’t sure whether she would be directly involved in crafting a new power sector rule, but she said the EPA would solicit input from all stakeholders on the issue.
