President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to appear before Congress for his first confirmation hearing next week, two days before the Jan. 20 inauguration.
The Senate’s Republican leadership wants to have most of Trump’s major nominees through the hearing process before the inauguration, with the goal of having them confirmed before the end of the month, say aides.
Trump’s nominee for the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, will face questioning before the Environment and Public Works Committee on Jan. 18.
On Jan. 17, Trump’s nominee to head the Interior Department, Ryan Zinke, will go before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee for his confirmation hearing. The nominee to head the Energy Department, former Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is also expected to have his confirmation hearing next week, but an official announcement has not been made.
The Democrats on the committee are trying to stall Pruitt’s hearing from being held until he answers all their questions in a questionnaire sent to Pruitt by the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the committee, sent a letter to all members of the committee Tuesday clarifying that it is the sole discretion of the chairman to schedule hearings and transmit questionnaires to nominees.
“Attorney General Pruitt’s confirmation hearing will be an opportunity to hear his vision for the agency,” and that will be the time for questions, Barrasso said Wednesday in a statement announcing Pruitt’s hearing.
“It will give senators the chance to ask questions and to hear Mr. Pruitt’s plans on how to help the EPA meet its mission of protecting the environment while strengthening the economy,” he said.
Barrasso’s office said the chairman made the announcement after meeting with Carper.
