Senator Drops Objection to Vote on EPA Nominee

A key Republican senator said he is dropping a filibuster threat to block the nomination of Gina McCarthy to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said he “intended to support handling the McCarthy nomination on the Senate floor without a filibuster.”

Vitter said Tuesday that he would not filibuster the nomination after EPA was responsive to his requests for more agency information.

“I’ve had very productive conversations with EPA over the last several weeks and believe the agency has taken significant steps forward on our five transparency requests,” he said in a statement.

“These are huge, significant steps forward to bringing transparency to the agency, and I see no further reason to block Gina McCarthy’s nomination, and I’ll support moving to an up-or-down vote on her nomination,” Vitter said.